Zita Kácser (born 2 October 1988) is a Hungarian former

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

distance runner. She also twice represented Hungary at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. A twelve-time Hungarian champion overall, Kácser Zita won national titles twice over

3000m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

indoors as well as winning multiple titles outdoors. These came in the steeplechase,

5000m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Athletics at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Games and the World Championships in At ...

, 10,000m and the

half-marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

Career

Kácser recovered from injury to run a national record time in 2019 for the 3000m steeplechase at the

Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion Hidegkuti Nándor Stadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Józsefváros, Budapest, Hungary. The stadium was opened on 13 October 2016. It was renamed after the MTK Budapest and Hungary footballer Nándor Hidegkuti (1922–2002). It is currently use ...

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. At the same time she also met the qualifying standard for the then delayed

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. The time of 09:26:59 put her 18th on the IAAF's world rankings. She competed at the Athletics at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's 3000 metres steeplechase. In 2021 she won her tenth national championship outdoor title when she triumphed in the

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fejér ...

. It was her sixth half marathon national title following previous wins in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. She announced her retirement from international running would come at the end of 2021. After being hired by sports team

Diósgyőri VTK Diósgyőr-Vasgyári Testgyakorlók Köre, more commonly Diósgyőri VTK () is a Hungarian sports club from Diósgyőr district of Miskolc best known for its football team. Founded in 1910 by the local working class youth, the team plays in the ...

as a

physiotherapist Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

in 2022 she still competed, and won, the 3000m steeplechase in May 2022 at the Hungarian team championships regional round, helping DVTK qualify for the finals. The victory came despite a fall which caused a wound on her leg to need stitches after the race had finished.

International competitions

References

External links

Zita Kácser
at the-sports.org 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Dunaújváros Hungarian female steeplechase runners Hungarian female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Hungary 21st-century Hungarian women {{Hungary-athletics-bio-stub