Zulia Calatayud

Zulia Calatayud (born November 9, 1979 in Havana) is a Cuban runner competing mostly in the 800 metres event. Her greatest season was 2005, when she became world champion and won the World Athletics Final.

Personal bests

*400 metres - 50.87 (2001)
*800 metres - 1:56.09 (2002)

Born 9 November 1979, Havana, height- 1.69m weight- 59kg

Manager: Javier Sotomayor / Jesús Molina Coach: Faustino Hernández

Name- Zulia Inés CALATAYUD Torres

Zulia is named after a Venezuelan state, where an uncle, then a judoka, won an international competition.

The youngest of nine siblings, Calatayud began to practise sports to treat asthma. She started athletics seriously in 1995. "I have always liked to run and I was one of the fastest in school", she recalls about her beginning in Havana's Manuel Permuy Sports School.

She initially preferred the sprints, but her first coach, Nelson Gutierrez, realised she had more potential to double at 400 and 800m. At first, Calatayud had better results in the one-lap race, reaching the semi-final at the World Junior Championshsips in Annecy in 1998. The following season was her breakthrough year at 800m. She improved from 2:12.7 to 2:00.67 to claim a surprising silver in the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. She also made her World Championships debut in Seville, but could not advance beyond the first round.

Before turning 21, Calatayud had an excellent Olympic debut with a sixth-place finish in Sydney, setting a personal best of 1:58.66, three months after first breaking the two-minute barrier (1:59.63) in Jena, Germany, on June 3.

In 2001, she slightly improved her personal best to 1:58.60, but failed to qualify for the final at the World Championships in Edmonton. She ended the season with two 4th place finishes at both the Goodwill Games and the Grand Prix Final in Brisbane and Melbourne respectively, which earned her the 10th place in her event in the inaugural IAAF World Rankings.

She made notable progress in 2002, smashing her personal best by more than two-and-a-half seconds to 1:56.09, beating World and Olympic champion Maria de Lurdes Mutola in the process at the Herculis Golden League meeting in Monaco in July 2002. However, she could not medal at the World Cup in Madrid two months later where she finished fourth.

That would be her last competition in more than eighteen months. A shin injury in her left leg delayed her preparation for 2003 and when she resumed training, the same injury in her right leg forced her to rest in order to avoid surgery. As part of her recovery and comeback to athletics, she first trained in a pool to gain endurance before beginning light sessions on grass. She was finally able to return to the track in January 2004.

Nineteen months after her last competitive outing, Calatayud was second in the 400 metres at the National Championships, clocking 52.07. In her first international 800 in almost two years, she won a meeting in Algiers in 1:59.48, signalling a comeback. Six more meetings followed, including her victorious run at the Ibero-American Championships in Huelva, Spain, before the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. A season’s best of 1:59.21 advanced her to her second consecutive Olympic final where she finished eighth. While she didn’t have enough time in her comeback season to make the event’s super elite, the season was nonetheless a fine reward for a woman whose athletic future looked uncertain just a year earlier. With eight competitions in three months, she ended the season ranked ninth in the IAAF World Rankings.

Fighting asthma as her more dangerous rival, Zulia Calatayud resumed training in late October 2004 for the 2005 season, under the guidance of coach Faustino Hernandez. Their plan for the season, she said, was fulfilled almost completely. She preferred to start her season in the longer 1500, which she did with a 4:23.84 clocking at the National Championships in March, finishing third.

Two local wins in May preceded her European tour. With the exception of her first race in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, she ran under two minutes in all of her six competitions prior her historic run for gold at the World Championships in Helsinki. In the Finnish capital, she ran a season’s best 1:57.92 in her semi-final, her second fastest ever. In the final, Calatayud matched every move made by Mutola and world leader Tatyana Andrianova and waited patiently before switching gears into a kick phase that was simply unstoppable for a clear victory in 1:58.82.

She gave a third world title to Cuba in the women’s 800m, following Ana Fidelia Quirot´s two consecutive wins in 1995 and 1997. Although she races in 400 and 800 metres, she does not want to be compared to Quirot, the former two-time world champion and Olympic medallist, who is considered the country's greatest ever female athlete. However “I feel great admiration for her," she adds.

A pair of Golden League wins in Zurich and Berlin followed, before she ended the 2005 season with another convincing victory at the World Athletics Final in Monaco. The winning streak landed her atop the IAAF World Rankings, replacing Mutola who had led the event ranking since its introduction in 2001. “I definitely had my best season ever,” Calatayud said. “Helsinki brings me good luck. I won a Grand Prix event there in 2001 and then the world title. It will always have a special place in my heart.”

As usual, calatayud skipped the indoor season. “I need to build up a solid endurance base to prepare for the outdoor season,” she said. “High performance sports involve a lot of risks. I am young and asthma is my main concern. The most important thing is to stay healthy and aim for a long career”, she explained.

Zulia has stayed consistent throughout the 2006 season, and she clocked her second fastest time ever, 1:56.91, when placing third in an excellent race at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne in July.

She claimed the 800m crown at the 20th Central American and Caribbean Games in Cartagena, Colombia, but after 51 consecutives weeks, she lost the N. 1 spot in the Event World Rankings to Kenya’s African and Commonwealth champion Janeth Jepkosgei.

Back in Europe, Calatayud sprinted to a close win over Jepkosgei to successfully defend her IAAF World Athletics Final title in Stuttgart.

After a fourth place in Madrid 2002, she wants to end 2006 with a medal at the IAAF World Cup in Athens, representing the Americas team.

The national record (1:54.44), held by two-time World champion Ana Fidelia Quirot since 1989, is her long term goal, but she is ready to break the 1:56-minute barrier.Off the track, Zulia is like any ordinary Cuban youngster. "I love to go out, dance disco and hip-hop. I am fascinated by chocolate and I adore soap operas," she confesses.She lives with her boyfriend Ernelis Labañino and is very close to her mother Petrona Torres.

Progression : 1995-2:18.9 ; 1996-2:13.80 ; 1997-2:12.7 ; 1999-2:00.67 ; 2000-1:58.66 ; 2001-1:58.60 ; 2002-1:56.09 ; 2004-1:59.21 ; 2005-1:57.92 ; 2006-1:56.91

Career highlights:

2006- 1st 2006 World Athletics Final, Stuttgart

2006- 1st 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games, Cartagena de Indias

2005- 1st 2005 World Championships, Helsinki

2004- 8th 2004 Olympic Games, Athens

2004- 1st 2004 Ibero-American Championships, Huelva

2001- semi-finalist, 2001 World Championships, Helsinki

2000- 6th 2000 Olympic Games, Sydney

1999 Pan American Games, Winnipeg

Achievements

"(800 metres unless noted)"

*3rd IAAF World Athletics Final - gold medal
*2005 World Championships in Athletics - gold medal
*2000 Summer Olympics - 6th place
*1999 Pan American Games - gold medal (4x400 metres)
*1999 Pan American Games - silver medal

External reference

*iaaf name|id=134592|name=Zulia Calatayud