Maria Ivanteeva

Happy birthday to Russia’s Moscow sprinter Maria Ivanteeva, who gave herself an early birthday present at the Russian Championships last week.

On 25 July in Yekaterinburg, Maria ran 24.88 over 200m, a lifetime best. The day before that she was part of the Moscow 4x100m squad in a national championship final carried live on Match TV, the team clocking 45.41. Her indoor season had already produced 7.68 over 60m in January at the Znamenskikh Arena in Moscow, and she owns a 56.55 over 400m from the same stadium.

That spread is the thing worth noticing. A sprinter who runs 7.68 for 60m and 56.55 for 400m covers nearly the entire sprint range, and those two events ask for almost opposite qualities: pure reaction and power at one end, sustained speed and pain tolerance at the other. Athletes genuinely credible across that whole span are the ones relay coaches want, which is precisely where Maria keeps turning up.

Her Instagram tagline translates roughly as through thorns to fast seconds, and she has built a second career on the same idea, coaching runners online and in person around Moscow.

С днём рождения, Мария! Желаю здоровья и счастья на долгие годы, и ещё много быстрых секунд впереди. 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇷🇺