''Mimmi Kotka''; (born 12 July 1981) is a Swedish athlete who specialized in

ultrarunning An ultramarathon is a footrace longer than the traditional marathon distance of . The sport of running ultramarathons is called ultra running or ultra distance running. Various distances, surfaces, and formats are raced competitively, from the s ...

Running career

In a 2016 interview, Kotka talked about her running background: "I have always loved outdoor life and kept active with skiing, biking, hiking, diving, yoga but not running. But in 2010, I signed up to run

Lidingöloppet Lidingöloppet is an annual cross country running competition held in Lidingö, Sweden. The 30 km run has about 15,000 participants per year and the shorter races several thousands, making it the largest cross-country event in the world.IAA" ...

as a challenge and got obsessed with trail running while practicing for it. That was my thing! Then I took it easy in 2012, 2013, and in January 2014, I decided to go all in. Train more focused. It was a little too focused in 2015. I ran a lot and got injured. In 2016, I took it easier, and now I seem to have found a formula that works. It is more fun than ever to run, and my body thrives." Kotka's major claim to fame is winning the 101 km Ultra-Trail Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC) in

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (; ; (no longer in use)), more commonly known simply as Chamonix (), is a communes of France, commune in the departments of France, department in the regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It was the site of the f ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in 2016 by a margin of almost half an hour and the 121 km Ultra-Trail Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) in the same location, and in 2017, by almost two hours and a half, improving the previous course record from 2015 by 46 minutes. For some years, Kotka suffered from RED-S relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), getting back to normal form at the beginning of 2021.

Personal life

Kotka is Swedish and her father is from Finland. She and her husband, Toni Spasenoski, who is a high-tech project manager and amateur photographer, live in Åre, Sweden. For a living, Kotka works as a nutritionist. In 2018, she started ''Moonvalley'', an online shop dedicated to organic energy bars and sports drinks, together with fellow athletes

Ida Nilsson Ida Nilsson (born 8 February 1981) is a Sweden, Swedish long-distance runner who also competes in ski mountaineering. In 2003 – 2006 she won a total of ten gold medals in Swedish championships in track & field and cross country running, plus t ...

and

Emelie Forsberg Emelie Tina Forsberg (born December 11, 1986) is a Swedish athlete specializing in trail running (skyrunning, mountain running) and ski mountaineering. She has won repeated victories in different disciplines, including European and World Champion ...

Results

2010 * 126th

, Sweden 2011 * 2nd Lidingö Ultra , Sweden * 13th Swiss Alpine Marathon , Switzerland * 23rd

, Sweden 2012 * 2nd Trail des Balcons d'Azur , France * 5th AXA Fjällmaraton , Sweden 2014 * 2nd Kullamannen Ultra , Sweden * 3rd AXA Fjällmaraton , Sweden * 2nd

Ultravasan Ultravasan is an annual ultramarathon and trail run in Sweden, which was hosted for the first time in 2014 following the route of the ski race Vasaloppet. The 90 km race is the largest ultramarathon race in Sweden, and attracts more participants t ...

, Sweden * 1st Coastal Trail Series – Dorset Ultra 44 miles, UK 2015 * 8th

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

Trail WC Annecy , France 2016 * 1st Trail des Balcons d'Azur , France * 1st Trail du Lac d'Annecy – Marathon Race , France * 1st Gran Trail Courmayeur , Italy (2nd overall) * 1st Ultra-Trail Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix (CCC) , France * 23rd Limone Extreme Skyrace , Italy 2017 * 1st Run Stockholm , Sweden * 1st

Marathon du Mont Blanc The Marathon du Mont Blanc (Mont Blanc Marathon) is an annual marathon distance (42.195 km) alpine trail running event held in Chamonix, France. The Marathon du Mont Blanc race is the titular event but the name also refers to the group of lon ...

, Italy * 3rd High Trail Vanoise , France * 1st Swiss Alpine Marathon , Switzerland * 1st Ultra-Trail Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) , France (new course record) * 5th Grand Trail des Templiers , France * 1st Kullamannen Dubbel-Döden (English: Double Death) , Sweden 2018 * 1st Madeira Island Ultra-Trail , Portugal * 1st MaXi-Race International – Annecy , France (3rd overall) * 1st Samoëns Trail Tour - Tour du Giffre , France * 1st

, France (second straight victory on a course that was 9k longer than the previous year) * 6th,

Grand Raid de la Réunion The ''Grand Raid de la Réunion'', also called ''La diagonale des fous'' (The Bishops'/Madmen's Diagonal) is a mountain ultramarathon race. The race takes place annually in October on Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an is ...

(aka La diagonale des fous) , Réunion, France * 3rd, Ultra-Trail Cape Town , South Africa 2019 * 1st, UTM Marão , Portugal * 13th, Madeira Island Ultra-Trail , Portugal * 1st, La 6000D , France (5th overall) * 20th, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) , France/Italy/Switzerland * 2nd, Ultra Pirineu , Spain 2021 * 1st, Quartrail des Alpages , Italy * 3rd, Lavaredo Ultra Trail , Italy * 1st, La 6000D , France (second straight victory) * 3rd, Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) , France/Italy/Switzerland 2022 * 1st, Lavaredo Ultra Trail , Italy * 2nd, Ultra-Trail Cape Town , South Africa

References

External links

*
Mimmi Kotka's profile at Kikourou
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotka, Mimmi 1981 births Living people Swedish ultramarathon runners Swedish mountain runners Swedish female long-distance runners Female ultramarathon runners Swedish sky runners Swedish people of Finnish descent 21st-century Swedish sportswomen