Latvian long-distance runner
Jeļena Prokopčuka
Born (1976-09-21 ) 21 September 1976 (age 48) Riga , Latvia Sport Athletics
Jeļena Prokopčuka at the 2015 New York City Marathon
Jeļena Prokopčuka (née Čelnova ; born 21 September 1976 in Riga , Latvia ) is a retired Latvian long-distance runner , best known for winning the New York City Marathon in 2005 and 2006.
Biography
She holds six outdoor and one indoor Latvian record , ranging from 3000 metres to the marathon distance. Her husband, Aleksandrs Prokopčuks , holds the men's Latvian marathon record with 2:15:56 hours. She is a three-time participant at the Summer Olympics , having represented Latvia in track events in 1996, 2000 and 2004.[ 1]
Prokopčuka won the 2001 Tallinn Marathon . She won the Paris Half Marathon in 2002, 2003 [ 2] and 2009.[ 3] She was the 2003 champion at the World Military Cross Country Championships . She won the Great Edinburgh Run three times consecutively from 2005 to 2007. She is also a five-time winner of the Kuldīga Half Marathon , and a two-time winner of the Almond Blossom Cross Country . Elsewhere, she won the 2002 20 Kilomètres de Paris , the Osaka International Ladies Marathon in 2005 (where she ran her national record time of 2:22:56 hours), and the San Silvestre Vallecana in 2006.
She was the top-performing European at the 2012 Lisbon Half Marathon , coming fifth overall.[ 4] She was tenth at the 2012 London Marathon and won the Riga Half Marathon . She surprised at the Great North Run , leading out the elite women, and although she fell to fourth she ran a national record of 68:09 minutes.[ 5] Her final outing of the year came at the Yokohama Marathon , where her season's best time of 2:26:55 hours brought her fourth place.
A strong finish at the 2013 Nagoya Marathon saw her climb from 16th to fourth and record a time of 2:25:46 hours – her fastest in six years.[ 6] She was runner-up to Tirunesh Dibaba at the Great Manchester Run in May.[ 7]
Achievements
Year
Competition
Venue
Position
Event
Notes
Representing Latvia
1994
World Junior Championships
Lisbon , Portugal
14th (h)
3000m
9:33.67
13th
10,000m
36:21.59
1997
European U23 Championships
Turku , Finland
5th
5000m
15:55.74
6th
10,000m
33:41.51
2000
Olympic Games
Sydney , Australia
9th
5000 m
14:55.46
19th
10,000 m
32:17.72
2001
World Half Marathon Championships
Bristol , England
5th
Half marathon
1:08:43
2002
Paris Half Marathon
Paris, France
1st
Half marathon
1:11:08
European Championships
Munich , Germany
5th
10,000 m
31:17.72
World Half Marathon Championships
Brussels , Belgium
3rd
Half marathon
1:09:15
2003
Paris Half Marathon
Paris, France
1st
Half marathon
1:09:42
World Championships
Paris, France
10th
10,000 m
31:06.14
2004
Boston Marathon
Boston , United States
4th
Marathon
2:30:16
Olympic Games
Athens , Greece
7th
10,000 m
31:04.10
2005
World Championships
Helsinki, Finland
12th
10,000 m
31:04.55
New York City Marathon
New York City, United States
1st
Marathon
2:24:41
Osaka International Ladies Marathon
Osaka , Japan
1st
Marathon
2:22:56
2006
Boston Marathon
Boston , United States
2nd
Marathon
2:23:48
European Championships
Gothenburg , Sweden
6th
10,000 m
30:38.78
New York City Marathon
New York City, United States
1st
Marathon
2:25:05
Kuldīga Half Marathon
Kuldīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:13:36
2007
Boston Marathon
Boston , United States
2nd
Marathon
2:29:58
New York City Marathon
New York City, United States
3rd
Marathon
2:26:13
2008
Boston Marathon
Boston , United States
4th
Marathon
2:28:12
Kuldīga Half Marathon
Kuldīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:15:57
2009
Paris Half Marathon
Paris, France
1st
Half marathon
1:10:43
2010
Kuldīga Half Marathon
Kuldīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:19:30
2012
Riga Marathon
Rīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:10:27
2013
New York City Marathon
New York City, United States
3rd
Marathon
2:27:47
Riga Marathon
Rīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:14:39
2014
New York City Marathon
New York City, United States
4th
Marathon
2:26:15
Riga Marathon
Rīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:14:52
2015
Osaka International Ladies Marathon
Osaka , Japan
1st
Marathon
2:24:07
New York City Marathon
New York City, United States
8th
Marathon
2:28:46
Riga Marathon
Rīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:13:24
2016
Riga Marathon
Rīga , Latvia
1st
Half marathon
1:16:06
References
External links
International National People