Liliya Shobukhova

Who is 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.

She started her career in middle-distance running in 2001 and reached the final at both the European Indoor Championships and European Athletics Championships in 2002. She moved onto longer distances and, two years later, she represented Russia at the 2004 Athens Olympics and reached the 5000 m final. She ran at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, but her first major successes came the following year when she won silver medals at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and the 2006 European Athletics Championships.

Shobukhova began to compete in road races, winning the 2007 Prague Half Marathon, but she still reached the 5000 m final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After running in the 10,000 metres at the 2009 World Championships, she focused on road races full time. The move paid dividends for her as she won at the Chicago Marathon three times straight from 2009 to 2011, as well as the 2010 London Marathon. Her personal best time of 2:18:20 hours is the Russian record for the event and makes her the second fastest woman ever after Paula Radcliffe.