Dasha Osipova

Happy birthday to Russia’s sprint hurdler Darya Osipova, who has just closed out her junior career holding two national records.

Darya set the Russian U20 100m hurdles record of 13.09 at the Russian Championships in Yekaterinburg in August 2023, taking down a mark that had stood since 2012 and, in the same run, a St Petersburg record that had stood since 1981. Six months earlier she had won the Russian U20 indoor title in Togliatti with 8.16 over 60m hurdles, another U20 national record, and a mark that ranked her third in the world for the season.

This year she has been faster than ever. In February at the U23 indoor championships in Volgograd she won the 60m hurdles in 7.95, the only woman in the field under eight seconds. In June she won the Russian Cup in Cheboksary over 100m hurdles in 12.72, a personal best. And in July at the Russian Championships in Yekaterinburg she was third in the flat 100m in 11.48, also a lifetime best. Every personal best she owns is a 2026 mark. Her Instagram bio is two numbers.

In July she posted from Smolensk after her final junior championship, and it is the most honest thing an athlete says all season. That was her last Russian junior championship, she wrote, and she would miss those starts. She usually did several a season; next year there would only be the senior championship. We’ll move on into senior sport now.

Her stated goal is 12.60. She is at 12.72, she races out of the St Petersburg Academy of Track and Field under Sergey Panteleev, and she studies at the Lesgaft university of physical education.

С днём рождения, Дарья! Желаю здоровья и счастья на долгие годы, и пусть 12,60 будет уже совсем скоро. 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇷🇺