Updated 6 August 2008

Gulnara SAMITOVA-GALKINA, Russia (1500/5000/3000m Steeplechase)

Born: 9 July 1978, Naberezhnie Chelny, Tatarstan
1.68m / 54kg
Coaches: Gennady Suvorov, Minulla Chinkin

Gulnara Samitova first appeared on the international scene in 2003 with her 3000m Steeplechase win at the European Cup, in Florence. Some weeks later she made history at the Russian Championships, beating the World record with 9:08.33. In July 2004 she improved the World record again, and by seven seconds, to 9:01.59. However, the women’s Steeplechase was not on the Olympic programme for Athens 2004, so Samitova had to switch to 1500 and 5000m. 

She was third at 1500m in the 2004 World Indoor Championships, in Budapest, but this remained her only significant success at this distance. Samitova also won 1500m at the National trials but the result - 4:01.29 - did not hold the prospect of Olympic glory. At 5000m, her chances were far more optimistic. At the National Championships she ran 14:53.70 with something in reserve and chose this distance for the Olympics.

But Athens 2004 does not hold fond memories for Samitova. She ran 15:02.30 and finished sixth. “Not so bad for the debut but she was ready to run much faster,” Samitova’s coach, Minulla Chinkin, commented. “I think I overtrained before Athens,” Samitova said. “Until the last moment I hoped to compete in two distances and 1500 and 5000 need completely different training. It was a good lesson for me to set clear goals and not waste my energy. We have a good saying about it – if you try to catch two hares at the same time, you will catch none.”

After Athens Samitova completely disappeared from the track. The suggestion that she could be pregnant proved wrong. Also no injuries or suspensions were reported. She never announced the end of her career but just left without any farewell. But, in 2006, she came back – under the name Samitova-Galkina and with focus only on the steeplechase.

Gulnara’s husband is an international 400 m runner, Anton Galkin. They married in 2004, immediately after the Olympics. “It was very hard time for both of us after Athens,” she said. “He got a two-year ban from the competition. I was completely exhausted physically and mentally after all this pressure of the Olympic year. My dream was to enjoy family life, to be a wife and probably a mother. We don’t have kids now but I would love to. I just needed some rest and change in my life. That’s why, for a year, I was not training at all, and then step by step got back to the track.”

After her marriage Gulnara started competing with double surname, as did Anton. His new name Galkin-Samitov surprised everyone. “It was his idea that we both would compete under double surnames,” she smiled. “I wanted just to change mine as most women do. Now it’s ok for me like that but, after Beijing-2008, I will probably become just Galkina.”

Samitova-Galkina made her comeback in the Znamensky Memorial 2006 with the season’s leading time – 9:14.37. Her performance after a two-year break was even more surprising considering that, in the meantime, she had left her coach for many years Minulla Chinkin. “When I started training again, my coach was already 76,” she recalled. “It was physically difficult for him to follow me at the training camps, to stand all this crazy tempo of training and competitions. He advised me to ask Tatyana Senchenko to take me, as she is one of the leading endurance coaches in Russia.”

Senchenko was shocked to see Samitova-Galkina at her group. Training the Russian record holder at 5000m, Liliya Shobukhova, and marathon runner, Galina Bogomolova, Senchenko had never before worked with the Steeplechase. “She said she had no idea how to coach me with these water and high barriers,” Samitova-Galkina laughs. “But I reassured her that what I needed was endurance and with steeples I would cope by myself. Really, I am very grateful to Tatyana Senchenko that, at 55, she was not ashamed to learn the new discipline and was sitting up at night reading textbooks.”

The partnership with Senchenko, however, did not last long. In 2007 Samitova-Galkina switched to work with the head coach of the long distance running group at the national team, Gennady Suvorov. When at home Gulnara consults with her first coach, Minulla Chinkin. “I like working with Suvorov because I am training mainly with men,” she said. “They can lead me as a pacemaker at the hardest moments. There is no inner competition in the group as it was with Senchenko.”

The 2007 World Championships, in Osaka, was a huge disappointment for Samitova-Galkina. World record holder and the author of the season’s leading time, she went to Osaka to win her first World Championships gold, but instead finished 7th, far from any podium chances. “I hardly finished the distance in Osaka,” she said.  “In the second half I did not think about the speed at all, my goal was just to reach the finish. I think my pace at the start was too fast for the heat and high humidity and I did not manage to keep it up. I am that kind of person – I don’t want just to win, I want to run fast! I took a risk and lost, but that’s how it happens in life.”

Her motto – “win with fast times” – is holding firm again in the Olympic year. In the Steeplechase she owns the first and third fastest results, with the season’s lead of 9:08.21 set in mid July in Iraklion. This is three seconds faster than the result of the Kenyan Eunice Jepkorir. In the 5000m Samitova-Galkina’s positions are not so stable, with the season’s fourth best (14:33.13) some 20 seconds behind the Ethiopians, Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar.

“First I wanted to focus only on the Steeple, as I am the World record holder there and the 3000m distance is ideal for me,” Samitova-Galkina said. “I ran 5000m at the National Trials just for training but surprisingly finished second after the national record holder Liliya Shobukhova. But the result was so good that I thought – why not to try to double?”

Samitova-Galkina is not one to criticise her opponents. She is friends with the World champion, Yekaterina Volkova, and does not miss a chance to compliment Dibaba and Defar, who will be her main opponents in the Olympic 5000m. “I saw the World record run by Dibaba at the Golden League stage in Oslo because I also competed there,” she said. “All I can say – it was beautiful! She was running unbelievably fast from the very start and it was very wise of her to slow down a little some laps before the finish and then speed up. To watch running like this is real pleasure.”

After the women’s Steeplechase was introduced onto the Olympic programme, Samitova-Galkina has her chance to make history. The Russian squad at the distance is strong, with Volkova and Osaka silver medallist, Tatyana Petrova. “We are not planning any team tactics but I am sure we will have fair play on the track, and the strongest wins,” Samitova-Galkina said.

She is not planning to stop after Beijing, no matter the result. “I want to be the first woman in history to run under 9 minutes,” Samitova-Galkina announced. “I know it is realistic for me.” If the usually shy and modest Gulnara says it’s realistic, you can definitely believe her.           

Personal Bests

3000m Steeplechase: 9:01.59 WR (2004)
1500m: 4:01.29 (2004)
5000m: 14:33.13 (2008)
            
 
Yearly Progression

1500/5000/3000m Steeplechase: 2001: 4:13.88/-/-; 2003: 4:15.78/14:54.38/9:08.33WR; 2004: 4:01.29/14:53.70/9:01.59WR; 2006: 4:19.89/-/9:53.83; 2007: 4:03.31/-/9:11.68; 2008: 4:03.31/14:33.13/9:08.21.

Career Highlights

2003:  1st    (3000m SC)  European Cup, Super League (Florence)   9:40.89
2003:  1st    (3000m SC)  Russian Championships (Tula)          9:08.33 WR
2003:  1st    (5000)           Russian Championships (Tula)             15:04.58
2003:  7th    (5000)           World Championships (Paris)              14:54.38
2004:  3rd    (1500)         World Indoor Championships (Budapest)  4:08.26
2004:  1st    (5000)         Russian Championships (Tula)              14:53.70
2004:  1st    (1500)           Russian Championships (Tula)              4:01.29
2004:  6th    (5000)            Olympic Games (Athens)                    15:02.30
2006:  6th    (3000m SC)  Russian Championships (Tula)               9:53.83
2007:  7th    (3000m SC)  World Championships (Osaka)              9:30.24
2008:  1st    (3000m SC)  European Cup (Annecy)                       9:35.32
2008:  2nd   (5000)           Russian Championships (Kazan)          14:33.13
2008:  1st    (3000m SC)  Russian Championships (Kazan)              9:08.21

Prepared by Natalia Maryanchik for the IAAF “Focus on athletes” project. Copyright  IAAF 2008.