Valentina Yegorova

Valentina Yegorova took up athletics at age 14 and was the world’s top female marathon runner in the early 1990s. Having been selected for the Soviet national team in 1988, Yegorova first competed internationally at the 1990 European Championships, where she won a silver medal. In 1992, Yegorova, still relatively unknown, won Olympic gold, beating Yuko Arimori by eight seconds. Four years later at the 1996 Olympics, Yegorova won silver. Yegorova also competed at the 1991 World Championships and 2000 Olympics, but did not finish those events. During her career, Yegorova won the 1993 and 1994 Tokyo Marathons, the 1999 Nagano Marathon, the 1997 Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run, the 1995 World Half-Marathon Championship, and a team gold at the 1991 World Marathon Cup. Yegorova retired from sports in 2004 and later worked as a children’s coach in Cheboksary.

Personal Best: Mar – 2-23:33 (1994).