Inga Abitova

INGA ABITOVA
RUSSIAN FEDERATION

BIRTHDATE:
6 March 1982

PERSONAL BEST:
2:22:18 (London, 2010)

WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:

07Nov10 ING New York City Marathon 4th 2:29:17
25Apr10 Virgin London Marathon 2nd 2:22:18
25Apr09 Flora London Marathon 6th 2:25:55
22Apr07 Flora London Marathon 9th 2:34:25

ADDITIONAL CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

15Nov09 Yokohama Women’s Marathon 1st 2:27:18
15Jan06 Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon 2nd 2:33:55
23Apr05 Belgrade Delta Sports Marathon 1st 2:38:21
16May04 Russian Marathon Championships 6th 2:43:48

CAREER NOTES:

Inga Abitova has had a couple of major marathon breakthroughs at London the past two years. In 2009 she smashed her previous PR by exactly eight minutes at 2:25:55 to place sixth. A year later she got her personal best down to 2:22:18, beating all the other women in the field except her Russian countrywoman Liliya Shobukhova.

In between those two races, Abitova delivered a big victory at the inaugural Yokohoma Women’s Marathon.

Last year was also a good one at the half-marathon. At the 2009 World Championships she broke the 70 minute barrier, placing ninth in 1:09:53.

The finest moment of Abitova's track career came at the 2006 European Championships. With two laps to go in the 10,000 meters race she was in a pack of more favored competitors, but she unleashed a sustained kick with 500 meters to go and reached the finish first in 30:31.42.

She came close to matching her PR with a 30:37.33 for sixth place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

PERSONAL NOTES:

Abitova is married to a former Russian steeplechaser and is the mother of a son, Yegor. She comes from Novokuybishevsk in the Samara region of Siberia, a town of just 150 inhabitants. She also has a tattoo in Japanese lettering embossed on her shoulder, referring to an inspirational motto calling for high achievement.