(Above) Lisa steals a glance at a model of the Olympic
stadium when hosting an Open Day for the Olympic Delivery
Authority.
In 2009, the year of her marriage to Ricky Soos, Lisa clearly established herself as one of Britain's top gold medal hopes for London 2012 with a silver at the World Athletic Championships and an end-of-season billing from Track and Field News (US) as the highest ranked British track athlete in the World.
She followed her outstanding performance in Berlin in August by breaking the four-minute barrier for the first time (a personal best of 3:59:5) in Zurich, thereby running the third fastest time in British history. Only Kelly Holmes, double Olympic gold medallist, has ever run faster over 1,500m.
Within a fortnight, Lisa then crowned these personal achievements by triumphing over all her elite rivals - including the double World Champion, Maryam Jamal, and the reigning Olympic gold medallist - at a star-studded Golden League meeting in Rieti, Italy.
Despite an interrupted start to the 2010 season, Lisa soon confirmed her place at the top table. A slowly-run race in the European Trials - in which she finished third – was surpassed in the three weeks which followed by an impressive win in the British Grand Prix (4m03.69), a 4m01.83 run in Lausanne (fastest in Europe at the time) and the second sub-four minute (3m59.79) performance of her career in Paris.
Lisa then headed for the England team’s training camp in Portugal for intensive preparation before the European Championships in Barcelona at the end of July/early August.
Already Commonwealth Games gold medallist and fourth-placed in the Beijing Olympics, Lisa’s continuing rise to the top of world contention has been matched by media and commercial interest in her story. She has lunched with PM Gordon Brown; hosted events for the Olympic Delivery Authority, Adidas and Aviva; spoken at schools; appeared twice on Question of Sport; and been interviewed by all the country's leading national newspapers and athletic magazines… as well as having appeared frequently on TV and radio. She has also been photographed by the National Portrait Gallery for a special Olympic exhibition being shown there as part of the build-up to London 2012.
Age: 26yrs.
Birth Date: 23rd December 1983
Club: Ashford A.C.
Place of Residence: Loughborough
Coach: Dr George Gandy
Commercial, general sponsorship and media management: David Welch
Shoe/clothing sponsorship and competition management: Ray Flynn
Married: Ricky Soos (2004 Olympic 800 metres semi-finalist aged 21) on December 12, 2009.
Personal Best: 3.59.5 (Zurich, August 2009)
2009 Outdoor Performance Rankings (1500m):
UK: 1st (previously lst, 2nd, 1st, 4th, 8th, 11th)
World: 2nd (behind Maryam Jamal) (previously 5th)
Athletic Achievements
| 2010 | 3rd European Trials, Birmingham, 1500m 4th Diamond League, Lausanne, 1500m (4m01.83) 1st British Grand Prix, Gateshead, 1500m 4th Diamond League, Paris, 1500m (3m59.79) |
 
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| 2009 | 1st Lucerne International meeting 1500m 3rd London Grand Prix 1500m 5th Monaco Herculis Grand Prix 1500m SILVER MEDAL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Berlin 1500m 3rd Zurich Grand Prix 1500m (3.59.5 pb) 1st British Grand Prix, Gateshead 1500m 1st Rieti, Italy 1500m (beating World Champion) 8th World Athletics Final, Thessaloniki, 1500m (injured) 2nd Pedros Cup, Poland, 1500m 2nd Fifth Avenue Mile, New York, 1 mile (4.23.9) |
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| 2008 | 1st Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix 1500m,Glasgow 10th WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS 3000m 1st National Championships/Olympic Trials 1500m 1st Norwich Union Grand Prix 1500m, Crystal Palace 4th OLYMPIC GAMES 1500m Final (4.02.10 pb) 4th IAAF WORLD FINALS 1500m 1st Norwich Union Grand Prix 1500m Gateshead 1st New York Mile (2nd fastest winning time ever) 1st Great North Mile, Newcastle |
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| 2007 | 1st National Indoor 3000m Championship 5th European Indoor 3000m Championship 10th Semi, WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 1500m (4:08) with fractured rib and ran last 600m with only one shoe |
|
| 2006 | 1st AAA Indoor Championships 3000m GOLD MEDAL COMMONWEALTH GAMES 1500m (4.06) 7th Semi, EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS 1500m |
|
| 2005 | 5th WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES 1500m | |
| 2004 | 2nd NATIONAL CHAMPS/OLYMPIC TRIAL 1500m | |
| 2003 | SILVER MEDAL EUROPEAN U23 1500m - youngest entrant | |
| 2002 | 4th WORLD UNDER 20’s CHAMPS 1500m | |
| Times Progression... | ||
| 2009 | 3.59.5 (2nd UK all-time behind Kelly Holmes) | |
| 2008 | 4:00.64 (mixed/5th UK all-time) / 4:02.10 (Olympic final pb.) plus: 4:20.35 Mile (3rd UK all-time) |
|
| 2007 | 4:06.22, plus 8:47.25 (3000m), 9:33.78 (2 miles) | |
| 2006 | 4.06.21 (passed 5 in home straight) | |
| 2005 | Injured | |
| 2004 | 4:05.42(mixed event), 4:07.44 (Paris) | |
| 2003 | 2:02.90 (ZURICH) ; 4:08.14 (AAA Senior Champs) | |
| 2002 | 4:12 (EURO U23) | |
| 2001 | 4.15 | |
Press coverage in 2009
Included amongst Lisa's extensive press coverage were substantial interviews, features and profiles in:
Runners World, Athletics Weekly, Natural Health, EK One, Sports Sisters, BBC TV's Question of Sport,
BBC Sports Personality, BBC London, Radio Oxford, Radio 2 (Chris Evans) and 5 Live, East Midlands Today,
The Independent (James Lawton), Independent on Sunday (Simon Turnbull), The Times (Richard Broadbent), Sunday Times (Andrew Longmore), Daily Mail (Laura Williamson and Neil Wilson), Mail on Sunday (Leo Spall) Observer/Guardian (Anna Kessel), Evening Standard, Press Association (David Martin),
Kent on Sunday (Tom Howard) and the Leicester Mercury.
Talent Evaluation
Each year since 2000, Lisa has made significant progress, with personal best times and/or outstanding runs in her main target competitions
Late in 2005, Lisa ran a PB of 4:05.42 in a ‘mixed’ race and followed this by challenging - and defeating in four instances - athletes who respectively had placed first , third and fifth in the World Championships that summer
In the Commonwealth Games 2006, Lisa won gold in her ‘legal’ personal best time, with her fastest ever last lap and her fastest last 100m.
At the Olympic Games 2008, she recorded her fastest ever ‘legal’ time in the semi-final, and improved this again in the final (with personal-best split times for the last 800m and the last 400m, and was second fastest athlete of all over the last 100 metres)
Now established among the world’s best, she went on to place a close-up fourth in the International Athletics Federation’s World Finals – and was ranked fifth in 2008 world rankings.
In 2009 Lisa took another giant step forward and eventually finished
second only to Maryam Jamal - both in the World Championships (beaten just
1/100th of a second) and in the end-of-year Track and Field News (US) world
ranking lists.
Lisa’s outstanding credentials include being:
- very attractive and exceptionally personable
- a highly qualified classical pianist
- confident, articulate, and positive in interview situations
- thoroughly trustworthy, and easy to work with.
And of having:
- powerful self-belief, absolute dedication, excellent personal management
- exceptional performance competencies - endurance, technique, speed
- the courage to attempt any pace adjudged achievable
- high-level ability on cross-country, road, and indoor/outdoor track
- developed gradually in an excellent training environment among high quality male and female training partners
- first-class support from EIS/Loughborough University specialists
- coaching from a Member of the UK Coaching Hall of Fame who was British Milers Club ‘Coach of the Year’(1995 & 2008), with a great track record involving international champions and record-breakers
Close observation at Loughborough of some of the best ever UK athletes (including Dave Moorcroft, Sebastian Coe and Paula Radcliffe), suggests strongly that Lisa has similar qualities, and will be a very strong contender for all major honours in the future.
Media sources described Lisa - after her Commonwealth Games victory - as 'the logical successor to Kelly Holmes' (e.g. Athletics Weekly, March 2006) and she was named as the Independent Magazine's 'hottest name in the world of sport for 2009' in their Christmas issue.
Lisa's 2009 best of 3.59.5 secs for 1500m was only beaten twice by Kelly in a long illustrious career. Moreover, Lisa’s fourth place on her Olympic Games 1500m debut that year equalled Paula Radcliffe’s best ever Olympic placing.
LISA DOBRISKEY, who is available for a limited amount of additional sponsorship, commercial and media work, is expected to receive considerable exposure as one of the country’s leading gold medal hopes for the London Olympic Games in 2012.
For further information: Contact David Welch at David Welch Management.
Phone: 01832 274340 mobile: 07774 811581 e-mail: david@davidwelchmanagement.com.
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