Ivet Lalova

Ivet Lalova ( _bg. Ивет Лалова, born May 18, 1984) is a Bulgarian track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 metre and 200 metre sprint events. She is the sixth fastest woman in 100 metre history, and finished fourth in the 100 metre and fifth in the 200 metre event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her career was interrupted for two years between June, 2005 and May, 2007 due to a leg injury. She was born in Sofia.

Career overview

Childhood and junior years

Lalova's parents, Miroslav Lalov and Liliya Petrunova, were talented sprinters. Miroslav was the Bulgarian 200 metre champion in 1966. Lalova began competing in swimming and gymnastics at age 10, and soon switched to track and field. She became the Bulgarian Youth champion in the 100 metre competition in 2000, and placed fourth in the 200 metre at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships. At the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships, she won the 100 metre and 200 metre events. [cite news
last=Vangelov
first=Aleksandar
url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=26074.html
title=Lalova – New Name, Hot Property
date=2004-07-14
publisher=IAAF
accessdate=2007-06-01]

enior career

On 19 June 2004 in Plovdiv, Lalova tied Irina Privalova as the sixth fastest woman in 100 metre history, recording a time of 10.77 seconds. [cite web
url=http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=O/age=N/season=0/sex=W/all=y/legal=A/disc=100/detail.htmx
title=100 Metres All Time Women
date=2008-05-11
accessdate=2008-05-12
publisher=IAAF] At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she placed 4th overall in the women's 100m competition, and 5th in the 200m. At the 2005 European Indoor Athletics Championships, she was awarded a gold medal for her time of 22.91 seconds in the 200m.

On June 14, 2005, Lalova's career was interrupted when she broke her right femur after a collision with another athlete while warming up for the 100m sprint at the Athens Super Grand Prix. [cite news
last=Lachkov
first=Nikolai
url=http://www.sofiaecho.com/article/lalova-breaks-leg-in-athens/id_11651/catid_34
title=Lalova breaks leg in Athens
publisher=The Sofia Echo
date=27 June 2005
accessdate=2006-11-13] [cite news
url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=32487.html
title=Lalova making a steady recovery
publisher=IAAF
last=Ramsak
first=Bob
date=2005-11-02
accessdate=2008-08-19] In June 2006, the Bulgarian Olympic Committee awarded her the IOC "Sports and Fair Play" prize for her conduct in the aftermath of the incident, when she declined to seek compensation from her fellow competitor or the event's organizers. [cite web
title=Ivet Lalova gets the prize of the IOC “Sports and Fair Play” for 2005
url=http://www.plovdivcityguide.com/newsfiles/news.php?id=2043&lang_id=1
publisher=Plovdiv Guide
date=June 21, 2006
accessdate=2006-11-13]

Lalova was appointed to the European Athletic Association Athletes Commission for 2006–2010 following an election held in August at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. [cite news
url=http://www.european-athletics.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4416&Itemid=2
title=Top European stars meet in Lausanne
publisher=European Athletics Association
date=2006-11-07
accessdate=2007-03-04]

Lalova returned to competitive racing on May 29, 2007, at the Artur Takac Memorial in Belgrade, winning the 100m in a time of 11.26 seconds. [cite web
last=Ramsak
first=Bob
url=http://www.iaaf.org/news/Kind=2/newsId=38838.html
title=Powell returns with 9.97 world lead – Belgrade report
publisher=IAAF
date=2007-05-29
accessdate=2007-06-01] In August 2007, she reached the quarterfinals of the women's 100m sprint at the IAAF World Championship in Osaka but failed to progress, finishing in fifth place with a time of 11:33 seconds. [cite news
url=http://www.sport1.bg/sport1/node/62705
title=Ивет Лалова отпадна още на 1/4-финалите на 100 метра
publisher=www.sport1.bg
date=2007-08-26
accessdate=2007-08-27]

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Lalova was eliminated in the semifinals of the Women's 100m, finishing her heat in seventh place with a time of 11.51 seconds, and was eliminated in the second round of the Women's 200m.

References

External links

* [http://www.ivetlalova.com/ Ivet lalova] (official web site)
* [http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/athlete%3D183664/ Ivet Lalova profile] at official IAAF website
* [http://ivetlalova.webcindario.com Ivet Lalova Fansite]