Ivet Lalova-Collio

Ivet Lalova-Colliо

Ivet Lalova-Collio in 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow
Personal information
Native name	Ивет Лалова-Колио
Birth name	Ivet Miroslavova Lalova
Full name	Ivet Miroslavova Lalova-Collio
Nationality	Bulgaria
Born	(1984-05-18) 18 May 1984 (age 40) Sofia, Bulgaria
Height	168 cm (5 ft 6 in)
Weight	54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	60 metres, 100 metres, 200 metres
Coached by	K.Milanow (1996-2011) Roberto Bonomi (2011-present)
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	100 m: 10.77 (2004) 200 m: 22.32 (2015)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd European Championships 1 2 0 European Indoor Championships 1 0 1 European Junior Championships 2 0 0 Total 4 2 1 European Championships 2012 Helsinki 100 m 2016 Amsterdam 100 m 2016 Amsterdam 200 m European Indoor Championships 2005 Madrid 200 m 2013 Gothenburg 60 m European Junior Championships 2003 Tampere 100 m 2003 Tampere 200 m

Ivet Miroslavova Lalova-Collio (Bulgarian: Ивет Мирославова Лалова-Колио; born 18 May 1984, in Sofia) is a Bulgarian athlete who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres sprint events. She is the 13th-fastest woman in the history of the 100 metres.^[1] She finished fourth in the 100 metres and fifth in the 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her career was interrupted for two years between June 2005 and May 2007 due to a leg injury sustained in a collision with another athlete. In June 2012 she won gold at the 2012 European Athletics Championships in the Women's 100 metres. In July 2016 she won two silver medals at the 2016 European Athletics Championships in both the Women's 100 and 200 metres. She has participated in five editions of the Olympic Games.

Lalova's parents, Miroslav Lalov and Liliya Lalova, were athletes. Miroslav was the Bulgarian 200 metres 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 metres competition in 2000, and placed fourth in the 200 metres at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships. At the 2003 European Athletics Junior Championships, she won both the 100 metres and 200 metres events.^[2]

On 19 June 2004 in Plovdiv, Lalova tied with Irina Privalova as the sixth fastest woman in 100 metres history (at that time), recording a time of 10.77 seconds.^[3] At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she placed 4th overall in the women's 100m competition, and 5th in the 200m. At the 2005 European Athletics Indoor Championships, she was awarded a gold medal for her time of 22.91 seconds in the 200m.

On 14 June 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.^[4][5] 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.

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.^[6]

Lalova returned to competitive racing on 29 May 2007, at the Artur Takač Memorial in Belgrade, winning the 100m in a time of 11.26 seconds.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.

In March 2011 she moved to Italy, joining the group of Professor Roberto Bonomi. Later in 2011 she started her season with 11.08 and 22.66 and after a week won the 100m Diamond League event in Oslo with 11.01 (2.1 m/s). After another week she ran the second best time of her career - 10.96 s (+0.8 m/s wind) during the Balkan Championships in Sliven, Bulgaria.^[9]

At the 2012 European Athletics Championships in Helsinki, Lalova ran the distance in 11.06 during Round 1, setting the leading European result of the year so far. She went on to win her heat in the semifinals, as well as the final on 28 June, beating Olesya Povh and Lina Grinčikaitė for her second career gold medal from a major championship.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Lalova finished second in her heat during the quarterfinals on Women's 100 Metres, equaling her season best of 11.06. She was eliminated in the semifinals, where she ran the distance for 11.31, finishing 6th in her heat and 19th overall. At the 200 metres distance she finished 5th in her heat with a season-best time of 22.91. In the semifinals she ran the distance for 22.98, finishing 6th in her heat and missing on a place in the final.

In December 2012 Lalova opened her own sports club under the name Ivet Lalova Sprint Academy, meant to help amateur, children, youth and professional athletes in Bulgaria.

In her first 2013 IAAF Diamond League appearance, Lalova finished third in the 200m sprint at the Golden Gala in Rome, with a personal season-best time of 22.78 (+1.2 m/s). This was also the best time for a European athlete so far throughout the year.^[10] She continued well in the next round at the Bislett Games in Oslo, winning the 100m sprint with a season best of 11.04 (+1.2 m/s). She then finished 3rd in the 200m at the British Grand Prix on 30 June, with a time of 23.02.^[11][12][13]

At the 2014 European Athletics Championships, she finished 5th in the Women's 100 m with a time of 11:33. In the 200 m event she ran a season best time of 23.17 in the first round, but only finished 6th in her semi-final group with 23.30 and did not qualify for the final.^[14]

At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing Lalova recorded a season best 11.09 in the 100 metre qualifiers, but failed to pass the semifinal stage. In the 200 metre discipline she recorded a season best time of 22.54, qualifying for the semifinals. There she ran the distance in 22.32, qualifying for the final and setting a new personal best. In the final she finished 7th with a time of 22.41, becoming only the third Bulgarian female athlete to participate in a 200m final at a World Championship, and the first one since the World Finals in Rome in 1987.

In the first 200 m event of the 2016 IAAF Diamond League, the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix, Lalova reached the final, placing 4th with a time of 23.04.^[15] On 18 May she won the silver medal in the 100 m event at the 2016 Beijing IAAF World Challenge, with a season best time of 11.11.^[16] Lalova then participated in her second Diamond League event of the year, the 2016 Golden Gala in Rome, finishing 4th in the 100 m final with a time of 11.15.^[17] On 6 June she won the Women's 100 m at the 2016 Gala Dei Castelli in Bellinzona, Switzerland, setting a time of 11.19 in the semi-final, and 11.20 in the final itself.^[18] Lalova's third Diamond League event of the year was at the 2016 Bislett Games in Oslo, Norway, where she won the bronze medal in the 200 m event with a season's best time of 22.78.^[19]

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At the 2016 European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam Lalova recorded a season best time of 22.57 in the Women's 200 metres semifinal, tied with Dina Asher-Smith for the fastest qualifying time in the discipline. In the final she improved her time to 22.52 and won Silver, her second major medal from European Championships and the first 200 m Euro medal ever for Bulgaria. In the Women's 100 metres Lalova won her heat in the semifinals with a time of 11.26, before clinching her second Silver of the tournament with 11.20 in the final.

Lalova opened her 2017 season by winning both the Women's 100 and 200 metres events at the Golden Grand Prix in Kawasaki, the third round of that year's IAAF World Challenge. She first triumphed in the 200 metres final with a time of 22.98, before winning gold in the 100 metres competition later that day with a time of 11.40.^[20][21]

Results were last updated on 2 June 2016.^[22]

Discipline	Time	Date	Location	Event	Notes
100 metres	10.77	19 June 2004	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Europe Cup (first league)	[23]
200 metres	22.32	27 August 2015	Beijing, China	World Championships
50 metres indoor	6.23	14 February 2012	Liévin, France
60 metres indoor	7.12	3 March 2013	Gothenburg, Sweden	European Indoor Championships
200 metres indoor	22.87	1 February 2004	Sofia, Bulgaria

Representing  Bulgaria
Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Measure	Notes
2003	European Junior Championships	Tampere	1st	100 m	11.43
			1st	200 m	22.88
2004	Olympic Games	Athens	4th	100 m	11.00
			5th	200 m	22.57
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid	1st	200 m	22.91	NR
2007	World Championships	Osaka	Quarter	100 m	11.33
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing	Semi	100 m	11.51	[24]
			Quarter	200 m	23.15	[25]
2009	World Championships	Berlin	Quarter	100 m	11.54	[26]
			Heats	200 m	23.60	SB
2010	European Championships	Barcelona	Round 1	100 m	11.58
2011	World Championships	Daegu	7th	100 m	11.27	[27]
			Semi	200 m	23.03	[28]
2012	European Championships	Helsinki	1st	100 m	11.28
	Olympic Games	London	Semi	100 m	11.31	[29]
			Semi	200 m	22.98	SB
2013	European Indoor Championships	Gothenburg	3rd	60 m	7.12	PB
	World Championships	Moscow	Semi	100 m	11.10
			Semi	200 m	22.81
2014	European Championships	Zürich	5th	100 m	11.33	[30]
			Semi	200 m	23.30	[31]
2015	World Championships	Beijing	Semi	100 m	11.13	[32]
			7th	200 m	22.41	[33]
2016	European Championships	Amsterdam	2nd	100 m	11.20
			2nd	200 m	22.52	SB
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro	Semi	100 m	DNS
			8th	200 m	22.69	[34]
2017	World Championships	London	Semi	100 m	11.25	SB
			Semi	200 m	22.96
2018	European Championships	Berlin	5th	200 m	22.82	[35]
2019	World Championships	Doha	7th	200 m	22.77	[36]

• 100 metres - All-time top 25 women

• Media related to Ivet Lalova at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Ivet Lalova-Collio at World Athletics
• Ivet Lalova at Olympics.com
• Ivet Lalova at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Ivet Lalova at Olympian database
• Ivet Lalova Sprint Academy at the Wayback Machine (archived 8 May 2013)

Olympic Games
Preceded by Yordan Yovchev	Flagbearer for  Bulgaria Rio de Janeiro 2016	Succeeded by Maria Grozdeva