Zulfiya Khasanovna Zabirova (; born 19 December 1973) is a Russian professional cycle racer who won the gold medal in the

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

event in the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and later, in 2002, won the World Time Trial Championship. Zabirova is one of two riders to have won two cycling monuments in the same year, having won the Primavera Rosa and

Tour of Flanders for Women The Tour of Flanders (), formerly the Tour of Flanders for Women, is the List of women's road bicycle races, women's sister edition to the Tour of Flanders (men's race), men's Tour of Flanders. It is an annual road bicycle racing event in Flander ...

in 2004.

Biography

Zulfiya was born in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

on 19 December 1973. She is an ethnic Uzbek. In 1993 two years after the breakup of the Soviet Union she emigrated to Russia and lived in

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

. As the main reason for her emigration she cited that the Islamist leadership of the newly independent Uzbekistan is hostile to the women sports and the rights of women in general. In 1996 she became famous after winning the Olympic gold medal in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. In 2005, she obtained the citizenship of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and announced her intention to compete as a member of the Kazakhstan team. As the reason for her decision she cited the better conditions for training and her desire to be closer to her native Uzbekistan (Kazakhstan has a reputation to be much more secular and democratic than Uzbekistan) as well as her family circumstances. According to the Russian Newspaper

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

, Zabirova's main place of residence and training is

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, Switzerland (as of 2005).

Major results

;1994 :3rd

UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships (named the UCI Juniors Track World Championships before 2016) are a set of world championship events for junior riders, for various disciplines and distances in track cycling and are regulated by ...

(Individual pursuit) ;1995 :2nd National Road Championships, Time Trial ;1996 :1st Gold medal olympic

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Time Trial :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotRusia

Time Trial ::2nd Road Race :1st GP Kanton Zurich : Tour Cycliste Feminin ::Two Stage wins :3rd Tour du Finistère ;1997 :1st MaillotRusia

National Road Championships, Road Race :1st Overall Étoile Vosgienne ::One stage win :1st Overall Trois Jours de Vendée ::One stage win :1st Chrono des Herbiers :1st Tour du Finistère : Tour Cycliste Feminin ::Two Stage wins :2nd

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

Time Trial :2nd Chrono Champenois :2nd GP des Nations :2nd Thrift Drug Classic :3rd Overall

Women's Challenge The Women's Challenge bicycle race (originally known as the Ore-Ida Women's Challenge as the lead sponsor was the Ore-Ida brand of frozen potato products) was held annually in the western United States in southern Idaho, beginning in 1984 until i ...

::Two stage wins :3rd Overall

Gracia–Orlová Gracia–Orlová is a women's staged cycle racing, cycle race which takes place in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic and in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland. It was created in 1987. Honours Jerseys As of the 2013 edition: ...

;1998 :1st GP Suisse Féminin :1st GP des Nations :1st Josef Voegeli Memorial : Tour Cycliste Feminin ::One stage win :2nd

, Time Trial :4th Overall Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ;1999 :1st Overall Tour de Suisse Feminin ::1st One stage win :3rd Overall

::One stage win :5th Overall

Giro d'Italia Femminile The is an annual women's cycle stage race around Italy. First held in 1988, the race is currently part of the UCI Women's World Tour, and is currently organised by RCS Sport, the organisers of the men's Giro d'Italia. The race was previously ...

::1st Stages 4, 7, & 9 ;2000 :1st MaillotRusia

National Road Championships, Time Trial :1st Overall Tour de Suisse Feminin ::One stage win :5th Overall Grande Boucle ::1st Stage 9 & 13 :7th

Road Race ;2002 :1st Jersey rainbow chrono

, Time Trial :1st Overall Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ::One stage win :1st GP Carnevale d'Europa :1st Chrono Champenois-Trophee Europeen : Grande Boucle ::Two stage wins :1st Stage 4 Giro della Toscana :7th Overall

:9th GP Suisse ;2003 :1st Overall Vuelta Castilla y Leon ::1st Stages 2 & 3 :1st Primavera Rosa : Grande Boucle ::Two stage wins :3rd

, Time Trial :4th Overall

Trophée d'Or Féminin Trophée d'Or Féminin was a women's Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Medit ...

;2004 :3rd

, Time Trial :1st

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

:1st Primavera Rosa :1st Overall Thuringen Rundfahrt der Frauen ::1st Stage 5 :8th

, Time Trial :10th Overall

::1st Stage 5 ;2005 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :1st Prologue Giro di San Marino :1st Stage 4

:6th

, Time Trial ;2006 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :1st Overall

::1st Stage 1 :1st Tour de Berne :2nd Chrono des Nations ;2007 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :2nd

;2008 :National Road Championships ::1st MaillotKaz

Time Trial ::1st MaillotKaz

Road Race :1st Stages 3 & 3

Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin The Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin was the longest running UCI event on the women's elite cycle racing calendar. It had been held annually in the Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Oc ...

:10th

, Road race

References

External links

Official websiteCycling Website profileArticle in Komsomolskaya Pravda about Zabirova

"Russian olympicist began to emigrate," article in the newspaper Utro.ru about Zabirova's plans to move to Kazakhstan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zabirova, Zulfiya 1973 births Living people Kazakhstani female cyclists Uzbekistani female cyclists Russian female cyclists Olympic cyclists for Russia Olympic cyclists for Kazakhstan Olympic gold medalists for Russia Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists from Tashkent Olympic medalists in cycling Asian Games medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2006 Asian Games UCI Road World Champions (women) Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Asian Games silver medalists for Kazakhstan Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland