Irina Borisovna Strachowa

Irina Borissowna Strachowa ( Russian Ирина Борисовна Страхова , English transcription Irina Strakhova ; born March 4, 1959 in Novosibirsk ) is a former Russian walker who competed for the Soviet Union.

It was only in 1984 that she began high-performance sport. On September 26, 1986, she set a European record over 10 km with 44:38 minutes.

The following year she was second in the walking world cup. In the same year, at the World Championships in Rome in 1987, women's walking was on the program for the first time. The race suffered from the heat and the high humidity. Strachowa initially approached the 10-kilometer route cautiously and was still behind the leading group after five kilometers. After 44:12 min, Strachowa was the first to cross the finish line and won ahead of Australian Kerry Saxby (44:23 min) and Chinese Yan Hong (44:42 min). The reigning European champion Mari Cruz Díaz from Spain came in fourth .

In 1991 Strachowa won the walking world cup. At the World Championships in Tokyo she was fourth in 43:40 minutes, but was 27 seconds behind the third-placed Finn Sari Essayah .

Irina Strachowa is 1.68 m tall and weighed 54 kg when she was active.

Best times

• 10 km walking: 42:44 min, February 17, 1991, Sochi
• 20 km walking : 1:34:31 h, May 29, 1987, Värnamo (former European record )

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1992. Windsor 1992, ISBN 1873-05711-3