Marina Grigorievna Sidorova (Russian: Марина Григорьевна Сидорова-Никифорова, née Nikiforova; born 16 January 1950) is a Russian former Soviet track and field sprinter. She was a seven-time Soviet champion, winning over distances from 100 metres to 400 metres.[1] [2]
Born in Saint Petersburg (then Leningrad), she made her Olympic debut at age twenty-two and was a 200 metres semi-finalist and helped the Soviet women to fifth in the 4 × 100 metres relay.[3] Her greatest individual success came at the 1978 European Athletics Indoor Championships, where she won the women's 400 metres title.[4] She took a 400 m bronze at the 1977 IAAF World Cup and was twice a 200 m silver medallist at the Universiade.[5] [6] She also won three individual medals at the European Cup during her career.[7]
With the Soviet women's relay team, she won four bronze medals at major competitions. Her first came at the 1971 European Athletics Championships, alongside Lyudmila Zharkova, Galina Bukharina and Nadezhda Besfamilnaya.[8] She won medals in both 4 × 100 metres relay and 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1977 IAAF World Cup and returned two years later to win another bronze in the 4 × 400 metres relay in a team anchored by future Olympic champion Lyudmila Kondratyeva.[9]
She was the daughter of two former athletes who became athletics coaches, Grigory Nikiforov and Valentina Nikiforova, who propagated a new training technique for distance running, based on long, low-speed runs and short high-speed runs.
| 1971 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 44.5 | |
| 1972 | Olympic Games | Munich, West Germany | 7th (semis) | 200 m | 23.40 | |
| 5th | 4 × 100 m relay | 43.59 | ||||
| 1973 | Universiade | Moscow, Soviet Union | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 200 m | 22.72 |
| European Cup | Edinburgh, United Kingdom | 3rd | 100 m | 11.40 | ||
| bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 200 m | 22.93 | |||
| 1974 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 8th (semis) | 200 m | 24.66 | |
| 1977 | European Cup | Helsinki, Finland | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 400 m | 51.20 |
| IAAF World Cup | Düsseldorf, West Germany | 3rd | 400 m | 51.29 | ||
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.91 | ||||
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:27.0 | ||||
| Universiade | Sofia, Bulgaria | bgcolor=silver | 2nd | 200 m | 23.09 | |
| 1978 | European Indoor Championships | Milan, Italy | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 400 m | 52.42 |
| 1979 | IAAF World Cup | Montreal, Canada | 3rd | 4 × 100 m relay | 42.52 | |
| Spartakiad | Moscow, Soviet Union | 3rd | 200 m | 23.45 |