Zulfiya Khasanovna Zabirova (russian: Зульфия Хасановна Забирова; born 19 December 1973) is a Russian professional cycle racer who won the gold medal in the

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

event in the 1996 Olympics and later, in 2002, won the World Time Trial Championship.

Biography

Zulfiya was born in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

on 19 December 1973. She is an ethnic Uzbek. In 1993 two years after the breakup of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

she emigrated to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

and lived in Rostov-on-Don. As the main reason for her emigration she cited that the Islamist leadership of the newly independent Uzbekistan is hostile to the women sports and the rights of women in general. In 1996 she became famous after winning the Olympic gold medal in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. In 2005, she obtained the citizenship of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and announced her intention to compete as a member of the Kazakhstan team. As the reason for her decision she cited the better conditions for training and her desire to be closer to her native Uzbekistan (Kazakhstan has a reputation to be much more secular and democratic than Uzbekistan) as well as her family circumstances. According to the Russian Newspaper

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925. History and profile During the Soviet era, ...

, Zabirova's main place of residence and training is

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

(as of 2005).

Major results

;1994 :3rd

UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships (named the UCI Juniors Track World Championships before 2016) are a set of world championship events for junior riders, for various disciplines and distances in track cycling and are regulated by t ...

(Individual pursuit) ;1995 :2nd National Road Championships, Time Trial ;1996 :1st Gold medal olympic

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Time Trial :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotRusia

Time Trial ::2nd Road Race :1st

GP Kanton Zurich Gp or GP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Gameplanet (New Zealand), a New Zealand video game community * GamePolitics.com, a blog about the politics of computer and video games * ''GamePro'', a monthly video game magazine * ...

: Tour Cycliste Feminin ::Two Stage wins :3rd

Tour du Finistere Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

;1997 :1st MaillotRusia

National Road Championships, Road Race :1st Overall Etoile Vosgienne ::One stage win :1st Overall Trois Jours de Vendee ::One stage win :1st

Chrono des Herbiers Chrono des Nations – Les Herbiers Vendée is a single-day individual time trial road bicycle race held annually in October in Les Herbiers, Vendée, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was origin ...

:1st

: Tour Cycliste Feminin ::Two Stage wins :2nd

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

Time Trial :2nd Chrono Champenois :2nd GP des Nations :2nd Thrift Drug Classic :3rd Overall

Women's Challenge The Women's Challenge bicycle race (originally known as the Ore-Ida Women's Challenge as the lead sponsor was the Ore-Ida brand of frozen potato products) was held annually in the western United States in southern Idaho, beginning in 1984 until i ...

::Two stage wins :3rd Overall

Gracia Orlova Gracia may refer to: Places * Gràcia, a district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain ** Passeig de Gràcia, a street ** Carrer Gran de Gràcia, a street ** Travessera de Gràcia, a street * Alta Gracia, a city located in the Province of Córdoba, Arge ...

;1998 :1st GP Suisse Féminin :1st GP des Nations :1st Josef Voegeli Memorial : Tour Cycliste Feminin ::One stage win :2nd

, Time Trial :4th Overall Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ;1999 :1st Overall Tour de Suisse Feminin ::1st One stage win :3rd Overall

::One stage win :5th Overall

Giro d'Italia Femminile The is an annual elite women's road bicycle racing stage race. It was rebranded from 2013-2020 as the Giro Rosa, having been branded the Giro Donne until 2012 and again in 2021. It has been considered the most prestigious stage race in women's roa ...

::1st Stages 4, 7, & 9 ;2000 :1st MaillotRusia

National Road Championships, Time Trial :1st Overall Tour de Suisse Feminin ::One stage win :5th Overall

Grande Boucle Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroi ...

::1st Stage 9 & 13 :7th

Road Race ;2002 :1st Jersey rainbow chrono

, Time Trial :1st Overall Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ::One stage win :1st

GP Carnevale d'Europa Gp or GP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * Gameplanet (New Zealand), a New Zealand video game community * GamePolitics.com, a blog about the politics of computer and video games * ''GamePro'', a monthly video game magazine * ...

:1st Chrono Champenois-Trophee Europeen :

::Two stage wins :1st Stage 4

Giro della Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will ...

:7th Overall

:9th GP Suisse ;2003 :1st Overall Vuelta Castilla y Leon ::1st Stages 2 & 3 :1st

Primavera Rosa The Primavera Rosa was an elite women's professional one-day road bicycle race held between 1999 and 2005 in Liguria, Italy as part of the UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup. The race was a female version of Milan–San Remo being organised on the ...

::Two stage wins :3rd

, Time Trial :4th Overall

Trophée d'Or Féminin Trophée d'Or Féminin was a women's European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in France. The race was discontinued in 2016. Overall winners Jerseys As of the 2016 edition: : is worn by the overall leader of the race : is worn by the lea ...

;2004 :3rd

, Time Trial :1st

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders ( nl, Ronde van Vlaanderen), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organi ...

:1st

:1st Overall Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ::1st Stage 5 :8th

, Time Trial :10th Overall

::1st Stage 5 ;2005 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :1st Prologue Giro di San Marino :1st Stage 4

:6th

, Time Trial ;2006 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :1st Overall

::1st Stage 1 :1st

Tour de Berne Tour de Berne is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held in Berne, Switzerland with races for men and women. Men's event The men's event began in 1920 and has previously been a UCI 1.2 rated event on the UCI Europe Tour. Women's ...

:2nd

Chrono des Nations Chrono des Nations – Les Herbiers Vendée is a single-day individual time trial road bicycle race held annually in October in Les Herbiers, Vendée, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI E ...

;2007 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :2nd

;2008 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :1st Stages 3 & 3

Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin The Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin was the longest running UCI event on the women's elite cycle racing calendar. It had been held annually in the Aude Aude (; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occi ...

:10th

, Road race

References

External links

Official websiteCycling Website profileArticle in Komsomolskaya Pravda about Zabirova

"Russian olympicist began to emigrate," article in the newspaper Utro.ru about Zabirova's plans to move to Kazakhstan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabirova, Zulfiya 1973 births Living people Kazakhstani female cyclists Uzbekistani female cyclists Russian female cyclists Olympic cyclists of Russia Olympic cyclists of Kazakhstan Olympic gold medalists for Russia Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Tashkent Olympic medalists in cycling Asian Games medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2006 Asian Games UCI Road World Champions (women) Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Asian Games silver medalists for Kazakhstan Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games