Maria Ermakova, a student at Novosibirsk State Technical University (NETI), took fourth place at the XXXIV International Russian Winter Competition and broke the Russian record among juniors in the three-kilometer run.
A total of 151 athletes from Russia, the Republic of Belarus, Turkey, Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and Kazakhstan took part in the competitions held on February 8 in Moscow.
Maria Ermakova ran a distance of 3,000 meters with a score of 8 minutes and 50 seconds. She finished fourth at the Russian Winter, meeting the standard of an international Master of sports and breaking the Russian record among juniors under 23. The same result is now a record for the Novosibirsk region.
Maria is a third-year student at the Faculty of Humanities at NSTU-NETI. He has been running for three and a half years and believes that it is important to be purposeful and self-confident in order to achieve high results. It is equally important to attend regular workouts. Maria started preparing for international competitions in early January, the speed training was carried out at distances of 1,500 and 3,000 meters. In addition, the athlete ran cross-country and visited the gym. She noted that in competitions it is desirable for her to run at an increasing pace: slower for the first thousand meters, faster for the second, and at the fastest pace for the third.
"The most difficult thing for me at international competitions was the first thousand meters, because all the athletes ran close to each other and for a long time I could not find a suitable place on the track. Then I made up my mind to run in the sixth position, and then I got closer to the leaders. The main goal I set for myself this season is to break the Russian record. Of course, I felt positive emotions: everything turned out the way I wanted," Maria said.
Her sporting achievements include a gold medal at the Russian Under—23 Athletics Championships and a bronze medal at the BRICS 2024 as a member of the Russian national team. In 2024, Maria, a multiple winner and prize-winner of Russian and international competitions, received the title of "Athlete of the Year" in the "Rising Star" nomination.
In February, Maria has two more starts — the Russian Youth Championship and the Russian Championship.
"In the summer, I am planning to run 10,000 m at the Russian Athletics Championships. I will also try to improve my personal bests at distances of 5,000, 3,000 and 1,500 meters," the athlete added.
Congratulations to Maria Ermakova and her coach Sergey Viktorovich Naumov on meeting the standard of the Master of Sports of international class in athletics and on the sports record of Russia!