19 Facts About Irina Mikitenko

Irina Mikitenko, nee Volynskaya, is a retired German long-distance runner who competed in marathons.

Irina Mikitenko won the Berlin Marathon in 2008 and is a two-time winner of the London Marathon.

Irina Mikitenko has competed at the Summer Olympics on four occasions.

Irina Mikitenko entered her first Olympic marathon in 2012 and came fourteenth.

Irina Mikitenko began participating in long-distance running at the age of 14.

Irina Mikitenko won twice consecutively at Luxembourg's prestigious Eurocross meeting in 1999 and 2000.

Irina Mikitenko placed fifth in the 5,000 metres at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and finished in the same position at the 2001 World Athletics Championships in Edmonton.

Irina Mikitenko won the Bietigheimer Silvesterlauf race that year, and participated in the 5,000 metres at the 2004 Olympic Games.

Irina Mikitenko withdrew from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing due to hip problems causing pain whilst running on 1 August 2008.

Irina Mikitenko improved the world record formerly set by Lyudmila Petrova at the London Marathon on 23 April 2006.

On 2 November 2008, Irina Mikitenko won the jackpot prize of 500,000 $US of the World Marathon Majors for the best performer in New York, London, Chicago, Berlin and Boston within the last two years.

Irina Mikitenko repeated her performance at the London Marathon in 2009, finishing with a time of 2:22:11, one minute ahead of Britain's Mara Yamauchi.

Irina Mikitenko had a seven-month lay-off after the Chicago run and decided not to run at the Paderborn 10K, which was her preparation for the 2010 London Marathon, due to sore shins.

Irina Mikitenko signed up for the 2010 Chicago Marathon but, despite having the fastest time in qualifying, she faded in the second half of the race and ended up in fourth place.

Irina Mikitenko claimed victory at the 2011 Parelloop 10K in April.

Irina Mikitenko's season went well from there on, however: she won the Avon Frauenlauf and Berlin 10K races and was runner-up to Florence Kiplagat at the 2011 Berlin Marathon in a time of 2:22:18 hours.

Irina Mikitenko's fastest was a run of 2:24:53 for seventh at the 2012 London Marathon, making her the fastest European in the race.

Irina Mikitenko returned to the city later that August to compete in the 2012 Olympic marathon, where she placed 14th overall.

Irina Mikitenko took third place at the 2013 Tokyo Marathon.