Ella Kovacs

Ella Kovacs (1992)

Ella Kovacs (Hungarian spelling Kovács Ella ; born December 11, 1964 in Luduş , Mureş County ) is a former Romanian athlete . She belongs to the Hungarian minority in Transylvania and has won two bronze medals in the 800-meter run in her career .

Career

The middle-distance runner won her first major title at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in 1985 in Piraeus in 2: 00.51 minutes, defeating Nadija Olisarenko . In the summer of 1985 she ran her personal best, with which she topped the world annual best list in 1985. At the European Indoor Championships in Madrid in 1986 , she was knocked off fifth. In the following years it ran sporadically world class times, but only found its way back to the top after a few years.

At the European Athletics Championships in Split in 1990 , she ran 1: 58.33 minutes and finished fifth. In the following year she fought at the indoor world championships in Seville with her compatriot Violeta Beclea for the places behind the German Christine Wachtel . Kovacs lost to Beclea by 0.04 seconds and finished third in 2: 01.79 minutes. At the World Championships in Tokyo , four runners crossed the finish line within 0.13 seconds after a fast race. The winner Liliya Nurutdinowa before Ana Fidelia Quirot and Kovacs in 1: 57.58 minutes. With the junior world record of 1: 57.63 minutes, Maria de Lurdes Mutola came fourth.

In 1992 Ella Kovacs won gold at the European Indoor Championships in Genoa . At the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 she reached the final, but after a very fast race in 1: 57.95 minutes she was only sixth, while the Dutchwoman Ellen van Langen won completely surprisingly . In Toronto the final of the World Indoor Championships in 1993 also developed into a speed race, with Mutola simply running away from the field; Kovacs lost touch towards the end of the race and finished fifth. At the World Championships in Stuttgart , Kovacs ran 1: 57.92 minutes and won bronze behind Mutola and Ljubow Gurina .

At the European Indoor Championships in Paris , Kovacs won silver in 2: 00.49 minutes, 0.07 seconds behind Belarusian Natallja Duchnowa . In the summer of 1994, Kovacs was banned for three months because she was convicted of doping with ephedrine . At the World Championships in Gothenburg in 1995 , she reached the semifinals.

Ella Kovacs is 1.70 m tall and weighed 55 kg during her competition time. In 1991 and 1992 she was Romanian champion over 800 meters, in 1995 she won over 1500 meters .

Best times

• 800 m: 1: 55.68 min, June 2, 1985, Bucharest
  • Hall: 1: 59.43 min, February 6, 1994, Bucharest
• 1000 m : 2: 32.40 min, July 2, 1993, Villeneuve-d'Ascq
  • Hall: 2: 39.33 min, February 5, 1993, Berlin
• 1500 m: 4: 06.38 min, August 18, 1985, Bucharest
  • Hall: 4: 9.80 min, February 24, 1985, Budapest

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1996. Surbiton 1996, ISBN 1-899807-01-2

Web links

• Ella Kovacs in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Ella Kovacs in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )