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Five-time Olympian attacked at Sofia Marathon

Olivera Jevtić of Serbia was attacked mid-race at the Sofia Marathon in Bulgaria on Sunday

On Sunday morning at the Sofia Marathon in Bulgaria, five-time Olympian Olivera Jevtić of Serbia was attacked mid-race. The runner was competing in the 10K when she and another male competitor were pushed to the ground. The attacker was an unmarked person, who doesn’t appear to be a race participant. The video below shows Jevtić falling after being shoved. 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITcp23UGct4&feature=emb_title&ab_channel=WeTheBest

According to a local newspaper, Jevtić lost consciousness briefly but reportedly has not suffered serious injuries. No further information has been released about the attacker. 

Jevtić’s main events range from the 5,000m through to the marathon. In 2006 she set the Serbian women’s marathon record at 2:25:23, which still stands today. 

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The event ran a full and half-marathon, along with a 10K. The marathon was won by Youssef Sbaai of Morocco in 2:13:03. On the women’s side, the title went to Viktoriya Khapilina of Ukraine in 2:27:57, which is almost a five minute personal best and the fastest women’s marathon ever run on Bulgarian soil. 

According to Japan Running News, due to last-minute cancellations of several nearby races, Sofia had one of the largest of most competitive fields the event has ever seen. Across all events, there were roughly 2,000 competitors from 37 countries. 

Full results can be found here

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