Mariya Konovalova
Encyclopedia
Mariya Ivanovna Konovalova is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n long-distance runner. She has represented Russia in both track running and cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 and was the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

list at the 2006 European Cross Country Championships
2006 European Cross Country Championships
The 13th European Cross Country Championships were held at San Giorgio su Legnano in Italy on 10 December 2006. Mohammed Farah took the title in the men's competition, while Tetyana Holovchenko won the women's race.-Men individual 9.95km:...

. She has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on four occasions and ran for Russia at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Konovalova began competing in marathon races in 2010, making her debut at the 2010 London Marathon
2010 London Marathon
The 2010 London Marathon took place on Sunday, 25 April 2010. Up to 36,000 people are thought to have taken part, a record for the event. The men's event was won by Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia with a time of 2:05:19 and the women's event by Liliya Shobukhova of Russia with a time of 2:22:00...

 and taking third place at the 2010 Chicago Marathon
2010 Chicago Marathon
The 2010 Chicago Marathon took place on Sunday, October 10, 2010. Over 38,000 runners took part, the most in the race's history.Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru won the men's event with a time of 2:06:24, beating Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede by 19 seconds. Russian Liliya Shobukhova won the women's event with a...

.

Career

Born in Angarsk
Angarsk
Angarsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Angara River, from Moscow. It serves as the administrative center of Angarsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population:...

, she began her athletics career as a 5000 metres
5000 metres
The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

 track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 runner. She made her first major appearance over the distance at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics
1995 World Championships in Athletics
The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden between August 5 and August 13.This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations....

. There she finished in sixth place in the final with a time of 15:01.23. She had also run over 3000 metres
3000 metres
The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...

 at the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships
1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 5th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain from 10 March to 12 March 1995. There were a total number of 602 participating athletes from 130 countries.-Men:-Women:-Medal table:...

, where she was twelfth overall. She was fifth in that event the following year at the 1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships and won the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...

 at the 1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final
1998 IAAF Grand Prix Final
The 14th IAAF Grand Prix Final was held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia on September 5, 1998.-Men:- Women :-External links:*...

. Fourth in the 5000 m at the 1999 European Cup was followed by a seventh place finish in the final of the event at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics
1999 World Championships in Athletics
The 7th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and August 29....

.

She progressed into cross country running
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...

 in the middle of her career. A tenth place finish at the 2005 European Cross Country Championships
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.-Men individual 9.84km:Total 90 competitors-Men teams:...

 was enough to help her Russian teammates (led by Inga Abitova
Inga Abitova
Inga Eduardovna Abitova is a Russian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 10,000 metres and the marathon. She was the 2006 European Champion in the 10,000 m and reached the final at the 2008 Summer Olympics...

) to the team gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the 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...

. She reached the individual podium the following year at the 2006 European Cross Country Championships
2006 European Cross Country Championships
The 13th European Cross Country Championships were held at San Giorgio su Legnano in Italy on 10 December 2006. Mohammed Farah took the title in the men's competition, while Tetyana Holovchenko won the women's race.-Men individual 9.95km:...

, taking the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....

, although Russia finished fourth in the national team rankings.

She returned to the competition for a third time at the 2007 European Cross Country Championships
2007 European Cross Country Championships
The 14th European Cross Country Championships were held at Toro in Spain on 9 December 2007. Serhiy Lebid took his seventh title in the men's competition and Marta Domínguez won the women's race.-Men individual 10.7km:Total 57 competitors-Men teams:...

 but finished in fourth place. Konovalova won at the 2008 Fukuoka International Cross Country
Fukuoka International Cross Country
The Fukuoka International Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in Fukuoka, Japan in either late February or Early March...

 meeting in a fast time of 18:54, and she took another circuit win that year at the Almond Blossom Cross Country
Almond Blossom Cross Country
The Almond Blossom Cross Country is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Albufeira, Portugal in early March. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It is held in co-operation...

.

Competing on the track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

, she finished eleventh in the 5000 metres at the 2007 World Championships
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...

 and fifth in the 10,000 metres final at the 2008 Olympic Games, the latter in a new personal best time of 30:35.84 minutes. She returned to the world stage at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

 but could only manage eleventh place in the 10,000 m final
2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 10,000 metres
The women's 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on 15 August. The Ethiopian team was particularly strong in the event, with two-time World Champion Tirunesh Dibaba, 5000 metres World Champion Meseret Defar, and African record holder Meselech...

.

She opened the 2010 season with a new Russian record
Russian records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Russia maintained by All-Russia Athletic Federation .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceht = hand timingX = unratified due to no doping control-External links:...

 in the 2000 metres event at the Yalamov Memorial Meeting. Konovalova made her debut in the marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

 at the 2010 London Marathon
2010 London Marathon
The 2010 London Marathon took place on Sunday, 25 April 2010. Up to 36,000 people are thought to have taken part, a record for the event. The men's event was won by Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia with a time of 2:05:19 and the women's event by Liliya Shobukhova of Russia with a time of 2:22:00...

 in April and finished in sixteenth place overall. The 2010 European Athletics Championships saw her represent Russia over 5000 m and she finished in fifth place behind the Ethiopian and Portuguese duos. At the 2010 Chicago Marathon
2010 Chicago Marathon
The 2010 Chicago Marathon took place on Sunday, October 10, 2010. Over 38,000 runners took part, the most in the race's history.Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru won the men's event with a time of 2:06:24, beating Ethiopian Tsegaye Kebede by 19 seconds. Russian Liliya Shobukhova won the women's event with a...

 she reached her first major marathon podium, taking third place with a time of 2:23:50 as her compatriot Liliya Shobukhova
Liliya Shobukhova
Liliya Bulatovna Shobukhova is a Russian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. She previously specialized in the 3000 and 5000 metres track events....

 won with a national record.Wanjiru, Shobukhova repeat at Chicago Marathon. AFP
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...

 (2010-10-10). Retrieved on 2010-10-14.


She ran at the 2011 London Marathon
2011 London Marathon
The 2011 London Marathon took place on Sunday, 17 April 2011. The men's elite race saw Emmanuel Mutai win in a course record time to become the fourth fastest ever over the distance. Runner-up Martin Lel sprinted to the line to beat Patrick Makau, completing a Kenyan sweep of the podium...

, but could manage only tenth in the fast race.

Personal bests

  • 400 metres
    400 metres
    The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...

     — 54.53
  • 2000 metres — 5:38.98 (2010)
  • 3000 metres
    3000 metres
    The 3000 metres is a popular amateur middle distance track event where 7.5 laps are completed around a 400 metre track. This event is generally classified as middle distance, but it could be classed as a long distance event in many high schools, since they do not promote races such as the 5000 and...

     — 8:30.18 (1999)
  • 5000 metres
    5000 metres
    The 5000 metres is a popular running distance also known as 5 km or 5K in American English. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics. "5000 metres" refers to racing on a track and "5K" usually refers to a roadrace or cross country event...

     — 14:38.09 (2008)
  • 10,000 metres — 30:31.03 (2009)
  • Marathon
    Marathon
    The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

    — 2:23:50 (2010)

External links

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