Tamara Press

Tamara Press
Tamara Press at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Born(1937-05-10)10 May 1937
Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died26 April 2021(2021-04-26) (aged 83)
Moscow, Russia
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight102 kg (225 lb)
Sport
SportShot put, discus throw
ClubTrud St. Petersburg
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1960 Rome Shot put
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Shot put
Gold medal – first place 1964 Tokyo Discus throw
Silver medal – second place 1960 Rome Discus throw
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1958 Stockholm Discus throw
Gold medal – first place 1962 Belgrade Shot put
Gold medal – first place 1962 Belgrade Discus throw
Bronze medal – third place 1958 Stockholm Shot put
Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1961 Sofia Discus throw
Gold medal – first place 1963 Porto Alegre Discus throw

Tamara Natanovna Press[nb 1] (10 May 1937 – 26 April 2021)[1] was a Soviet athlete who dominated the shot put and discus throw in the early 1960s. She won three gold medals and one silver medal at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and three European titles in 1958–1962. Between 1959 and 1965, she set 11 world records: five in the shot put and six in the discus. Domestically, she held 16 national titles, nine in the shot put (1958–66) and seven in the discus (1960–66).[2]

Her younger sister Irina Press was also a prominent track athlete, mostly in the sprint events.[3]

Career

Tamara Press was born to parents in Kharkov. Her father died fighting in World War II in 1942 and her mother took the daughters to Samarkand, where they started training in athletics.[4][5] In 1955, Press moved to Leningrad to train under the renowned coach Viktor Alekseyev. The following year she was shortlisted for the Olympic team but was cut due to a strong domestic competition in the throwing events.[6][7] She subsequently won four Olympic medals, three of them gold.

Retirement and gender rumors

Both sisters were accused of being either secretly male or intersex.[4][8][9] They retired in 1966, just before sex verification became mandatory on location.[10] In 1942 wartime Soviet evacuation records (at age 5) Tamara Press is documented as a girl.[11]

In retirement, Press worked as an athletics coach and official in Moscow.[3] She wrote several books on sport, social and economical subjects. In 1974, she defended a PhD in pedagogy.[2] She was awarded the Order of Lenin (1960), Order of the Badge of Honour (1964) and Order of Friendship (1997).[6][12]

Notes

  1. ^ Russian: Тамара Натановна Пресс, Ukrainian: Тамара Натанівна Пресс, Tamara Natanivna Press

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tamara Press.
  1. ^ Sandomir, Richard (4 May 2021). "Tamara Press, Olympian Whose Feats Raised Questions, Dies at 83". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b c Пресс Тамара Натановна. Olympic Encyclopedia (2006)
  3. ^ a b c Tamara Press. sports-reference.com
  4. ^ a b c Irina Press. Telegraph.co.uk. 31 May 2004
  5. ^ a b Uri Miller. Jews in Sport in the USSR. Yivo Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015.
  6. ^ a b c Пресс Тамара Натановна. excelion.ru
  7. ^ "Jewish Girl, Winner of Olympic Gold Medal, Decorated in Moscow". 3 October 1960. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Switch hitter: If a man has a sex change can he compete in the Olympics as a woman?" thestraightdope.com. 22 August 2008
  9. ^ Olympic Gender Drama-The Press Sisters. TransGriot. 9 November 2011
  10. ^ Wallechinsky, David (2012). The Book of Olympic Lists. Aurum Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-84513-773-1.
  11. ^ Tamara Press in evacuation lists (1942)
  12. ^ a b Пресс Тамара Натановна. Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
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