Lisa Dobriskey

Lisa Jane Dobriskey (born 23 December 1983 in Ashford, Kent) is an English middle distance runner.  She was the Commonwealth Games champion in the 1500 m in 2006 and won a silver medal in the same distance at the 2009 World Championships.

Career
After winning her school's 800 m at age 11, her teachers suggested that she join the local athletic club.  Dobriskey won Amateur Athletic Association titles at Under 15/17/20 and 23. She was the fastest British under-17 girl at 800m (2:08.67) and fourth fastest at 1500 m (4:31.7) in 1999, and the third fastest at 1500 m (4:28.10) in 2000. She won the English Schools 800 m title for Juniors in 1998 and for Intermediates in 1999 and made her junior international debut indoors against Germany and France at 1500 m in 2000. In the English Schools cross country running she was 4th in the Junior girls in 1998 and 3rd in the Intermediates in 1999. She was 2nd in the Inter-counties U15 cc in 1999.

She won the gold medal in the women's 1500 m event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

She finished 4th in the final of the 1500 m in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, resulting in her ranking fourth in the world for the 1500 m. After this, she won the Fifth Avenue Mile competition with the second fastest ever time recorded by a female athlete at the race.

After suffering a stress fracture in her back early in the 2009 season, she finished third in the 1500 m at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany. Dobriskey was upgraded to silver after winner Natalia Rodriguez of Spain was disqualified for shoving Ethiopian Gelete Burika, who fell on the last lap.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she reached the 1500 m final again, finishing in 10th place. After the race, Dobriskey referred to possible doping by some of her rivals, saying "I don't believe I'm competing on a level playing field". Race winner Aslı Çakır Alptekin was subsequently stripped of the gold medal in 2015 and given an eight-year ban from competition after testing positive for banned substances. In all, six of the nine runners who finished ahead of Dobriskey in the final have been linked to the use of performance-enhancing drugs during their careers.

Statistics
Lisa Dobriskey's personal best in the 1500 m ranks her third on the British all-time list, behind Kelly Holmes and Laura Muir.

Personal bests

Personal life
She was born in Ashford, Kent of Polish descent and spent her childhood in New Romney before attending Loughborough University.  Her younger brothers David and Steven reached county level at middle distance running, javelin and discus. Her father is a soil consultant, who worked for construction company Sir Robert McAlpine at the site of the 2012 London Olympics.

Dobriskey is married to former 800 m runner Ricky Soos.

References

External links

1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Ashford, Kent
English female middle-distance runners
British female middle-distance runners
Olympic female middle-distance runners
Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
World Athletics Championships medalists
British Athletics Championships winners
British people of Polish descent
Alumni of Loughborough University
Commonwealth Games competitors for England
Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games