Laine Erik (married name Kallas; born 21 April 1942) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

and a retired middle-distance runner.

Running

Erik specialized in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

. In this event she finished sixth at the 1964 Olympics, while at the 1968 Games she was eliminated in semifinals. She won the Soviet titles in 1964, 1967 and 1968. In 1965 she won a gold medal at the

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

, and in 1964 she was part of the Soviet 3×800 m team that set a world record.

Science

She graduated from the

Zootechnics Zootechnics is the art of managing domestic or captive animals, including handling, breeding, and keeping. Based on: genetics, reproduction ( animal husbandry), feeding and nutrition, handling, health (preventive medicine) and economics. See also ...

Faculty of

Estonian Agricultural Academy The Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonian: ''Eesti Maaülikool'', EMÜ) located in Tartu, Estonia, is the former Estonian Agricultural University, which was established in 1951 and renamed and restructured in November 2005. Eesti Maaül ...

in 1969 and in 1984 defended a PhD in

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...

s. Between 1969 and 1996 she worked as a researcher at the Institute of Animal Science of Estonian Agricultural University, and after that as a company manager.

References

1942 births Living people People from Türi Parish Estonian agronomists Estonian female middle-distance runners Soviet female middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade {{estonia-athletics-bio-stub