Ravil Kashapov

Ravil Kashapov, born on 15 November 1956 in the town of Bolgar in Tatarstan, is a Russian ultramarathon runner and former marathon runner who was named a Master of Sport of the USSR, International Class. He graduated in biochemistry from Kazan Federal University in 1979, started athletics training in his third year there, and now works as an assistant professor at the Kama State Institute of Physical Culture and as vice-president of the Tatarstan Athletics Federation. He represented the Soviet Union at the 1987 World Championships, finishing eighth, and at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, where he was tenth in the marathon, and he won the 1988 European Marathon Cup in Huy. In the late 1990s he began running ultramarathons of 50 to 100 kilometres, winning the Russian 100 km Championships in Moscow in 1998, finishing third at the IAU World 100 km Championships in Kochi and fifth at the Comrades Marathon of 87 kilometres.