Inga Eduardovna Abitova (russian: Инга Эдуардовна Абитова, born 6 March 1982 in

Novokuybyshevsk Novokuybyshevsk (russian: Новоку́йбышевск) is a city in Samara Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern bank of the Volga River, away from it. Population: History During the Russian Civil War, the area where the city now stands was ...

) is a Russian

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail *European long-dista ...

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

, who specializes in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

and the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. She was the 2006 European Champion in the 10,000 m and reached the final at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Doping

In 2012, she was given a two-year ban for breaking

anti-doping In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned Performance-enhancing substance, athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports. The term ''doping'' is widely used by organizations that regulate sp ...

regulations. The reason given was an "abnormal haemoglobin profile in her biological passport". Her competition results will be annulled, beginning 10 October 2009 and her suspension began on 11 October 2012. In May 2016, it was reported that Abitova was one of 14 Russian athletes, implicated in doping following the retesting of urine from the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Abitova was named by Russian press agency

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

as having failed the retest, which was undertaken following the Russian doping scandal of 2015 and 2016. If confirmed, under IOC and IAAF rules, she stands to lose all results, medals and records from the date of the original test to May 2016. Her doping offence was confirmed on 13 September.

Career

As a junior athlete Abitova finished eleventh in the

3000 metres 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 ...

at the 1999 World Youth Championships. She began

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

and – after taking part in the

2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 24/25, 2001. The races were held at the Hippodrome Wellington in Ostend (Oostende), Belgium. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in the ''Herald'', ...

– she took fourth place in the junior race at the

2005 European Cross Country Championships The 12th European Cross Country Championships were held at Tilburg in Netherlands on 11 December 2005. Serhiy Lebid won the men's competition for the sixth time and Lornah Kiplagat won the women's race. Results Men individual 9.84 km Total ...

, helping the Russian junior team to a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

. She won the

Belgrade Marathon The Belgrade Marathon is a marathon race held annually in Belgrade since 1988. It is typically held in mid-April and also features a half marathon and a fun run for the public. The Belgrade Marathon is one of the biggest sporting events i ...

in 2005, finishing in 2:38:20, and ran at the

, taking seventh place and leading the Russian women to a team gold. In 2006, she became European champion over the 10,000 metres at the 2006 European Championships in

Gothenburg, Sweden Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a ...

. Her winning time of 30:31.42 minutes meant a new personal best for her and the seventh-best time ever run by a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an woman. Abitova won the 10,000 m at the 2007 Russian Championships. She later finished twelfth at the 2007 World Championships and sixth at the

. The following year she ran at the

2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held in Birmingham, United Kingdom on 11 October 2009. It was the final event of the International Association of Athletics Federations' 2009 World Athletics Series. Organisation The city of B ...

and finished in ninth place – the best performance by a European woman. She participated in the inaugural edition of the

Yokohama Women's Marathon The Yokohama Women's Marathon was a marathon held in Yokohama, Japan, and hosted by Japan Association of Athletics Federations, TV Asahi, the Asahi Shimbun. It is one of the major Japanese women's marathon races which is used to decide selection fo ...

held in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and she won the race in a time of 2:27:18. Abitova broke from the main pack at the 30 km mark and was unchallenged to the finish. Her first major race of 2010 was the London Marathon and she was the runner-up behind compatriot

Liliya Shobukhova Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova, née Shagbalova, Divorced name Volkova, (russian: Лилия Булатoвнa Шoбухова (Шагбaлова) (Волкова); born 13 November 1977) is a Russian long-distance runner who competed in marathon rac ...

, having finished the race in a time of 2:22:19. Her results from the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships onwards were subsequently annulled. Currently, she trains under Vladimir Timofeyev. She graduated from the Samara Institute of Law of the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Personal life

Abitova is married and has one son.

Competition record

References

External links