Valentina Enachi
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Valentina_Enachi_in_the_Women%27s_Marathon%2C_Sydney_Olympics_2000_042813_%28cropped%29.jpg/150px-Valentina_Enachi_in_the_Women%27s_Marathon%2C_Sydney_Olympics_2000_042813_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Valentina Enachi (born 15 February 1966 in Chișinău), also known as Valentina Enaki in sports world, is a Moldovan long-distance runner who specialised in road running competitions, including the marathon. She represented Moldova in the event at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She competed mostly in France and won the Tiberias Marathon, Lausanne Marathon and La Rochelle Marathon
Career[]
Enaki began her international career representing the Soviet Union. She ran in the British 100 km Championships in 1990 and came second with a time of 8:48:39 hours.[1] She also ran at the Tiberias Marathon that year and won the race in a little over three hours.[2] Following the declaration of Independence of Moldova in August 1991, she represented her new country at the , winning in a time of 2:50:37 hours.[3]
She began competing on the road running circuit in France in the 1990s, winning the in 1994 and the 1995 in Caen with a personal best of 2:38:43 hours.[4][5] She improved her best to 2:33:35 hours with a win at the Lausanne Marathon in 1995 (she went on to win a second title in 2001).[6] In March 1996 she won the 15.4 km race and then set a Moldovan record over 20 km with her winning time of 1:10:06 at the .[7][8][9] Enaki was the first women's 10K winner at the Corrida de Langueux and she ran in the Olympic marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics, albeit as an unofficial competitor.[10][11] Later that season she took the women's title at the in Niort.[12]
At the start of 1997, she opened her year by winning the and just one week after her marathon outing, she ran and won at the .[13][14] A second consecutive win came at the Maroilles race and she ran course record and personal best of 2:31:22 hours to win the .[8][15] She was also fifth at the that year. In 1999 she won two road races: the Courses Pédestres d'Arras 10K and the .[16][17]
Enachi came fifth at the 2000 Paris Marathon and her time of 2:33:28 hours qualified her to compete at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.[18] She ran in her second Olympic marathon race but she didn't manage to finish the distance.[19] Following her appearance on the Olympic stage she had back-to-back wins at the La Rochelle Marathon in 2001 and 2002.[20] She also won the 2001 and in 2002 she topped the podium at the and (setting a career best of 2:30:06 hours at the latter competition).[21][22]
References[]
- ^ BRITISH 100 KILOMETRES (ROAD) CHAMPIONSHIPS. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 27 June 2011.
- ^ David Eiger & Franco Civai (9 January 2011). Tiberias Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Civai, Franco (10 November 2006). Crete (Vardinoyannios) Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Futuroscope Marathon. ARRS (9 June 2011). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Liberté Marathon. ARRS (21 June 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Civai, Franco & Gasparovic, Juraj (14 November 2010). Lausanne Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Lefeuvre, Thierry (28 March 2011). Alençon-Médavy 15.4 km. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ a b Lefeuvre, Thierry (30 September 2010). Maroilles 20 km. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ MDA Record Progressions- Road. ARRS. Retrieved on 27 June 2011.
- ^ Lefeuvre, Thierry (3 July 2010). Corrida Langueux 10 km. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Athletics at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Women's Marathon. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 27 June 2011.
- ^ Lefeuvre, Thierry (19 October 2010)La Coulée Verte Half Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Val Nantais Marathon. ARRS (18 April 2011). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Lefeuvre, Thierry (23 March 2011). La Rochelle Half Marathon. ARRS. Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Lyon Marathon. ARRS (3 October 2011). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Courses Pédestres d'Arras 10 km. ARRS (23 October 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Saint Pol- Morlaix Half Marathon. ARRS (31 October 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Ouaadi outlasts Otieno to win Paris Marathon. IAAF (9 April 2000). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Valentina Enachi. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 27 June 2011.
- ^ La Rochelle Marathon. ARRS (5 December 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Morat-Fribourg 17.2 km. ARRS (3 October 2010). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
- ^ Cannes Half Marathon. ARRS (23 March 2011). Retrieved on 2011-06-27.
External links[]
- 1966 births
- Living people
- Moldovan female marathon runners
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic athletes of Moldova
- Sportspeople from Chișinău
- Soviet female marathon runners