Galina Ivanovna Zybina (russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Зы́бина, born 22 January 1931) is a retired

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n athlete and coach. She competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

at the 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and finished in first, second, seventh and third place, respectively; in 1952 she also finished fourth in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. Between 1952 and 1956, she set eight consecutive

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

and 14 national records in the shot put. In 1953, she became the first woman to throw over 16 meters when she threw 16.20 m.

Biography

As a child Zybina was much weakened by hunger and cold during the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

in World War II, which killed her mother and brother, while her father died at the front lines. Yet, by 1950, she had become a top Soviet thrower and won a bronze in the javelin at the European championships. During her entire career as a competitor and coach Zybina accentuated on technique rather than strength. Owing to her age, she was left out of the Soviet team before the 1968 Olympics and retired in 1969, although she was still the second-best Soviet shot putter at the time. In retirement she worked as athletics coach in

Värska Värska ( seto, Verska) is a Populated places in Estonia, small borough () in Setomaa Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia. At the 2011 Estonia Census, 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 443. History Värska was first historica ...

, Estonia, which was then under the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...

. Zybina was married to Yury Fyodorov, a Russian captain and commander of the Russian cruiser ''Aurora'' in 1964–85. The cruiser was famous for starting the 1917

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, but by 1960s was a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

. In 1959 she gave birth to a son, which caused her to demonstrate a sub-par performance at the 1960 Olympics (seventh place).

References

1931 births Living people Athletes from Saint Petersburg Soviet female shot putters Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) {{Russia-athletics-bio-stub