Nina Apollonovna Ponomaryova (née ''Romashkova''; russian: Нина Аполлоновна Пономарёва (Ромашкова); 27 April 1929 – 19 August 2016) was a Russian

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

er and the first

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Olympic champion.

Career

Ponomaryova became interested in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

in 1947, when she entered the Physical Training Faculty of the

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

Pedagogical Institute. Her first official performance was in 1948 at the

Stavropol Krai Stavropol Krai (russian: Ставропо́льский край, r=Stavropolsky kray, p=stəvrɐˈpolʲskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (a Krais of Russia, krai) of Russia. It is geographically located in the North ...

Championships, where she set a new regional record at 30.53 m. After just three years of training she became one of the leading Soviet athletes. In 1949 she finished third at the USSR Championships. At that time an experienced coach Dmitry Markov began to train her. In 1951 Romashkova became the Soviet champion, she repeated this success in 1952–1956, 1958 and 1959. In 1952 she was a member of the Soviet team, which participated in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

for the first time in history. At that time the Olympic record was held since

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

Gisela Mauermayer Gisela Mauermayer (24 November 1913 in Munich – 9 January 1995 in Munich) was a German athlete who competed mainly in the discus. She won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany Germany,, offic ...

at 47.63 m. Ponomaryova won the qualifying round with a throw of 45.05 m (36 m was enough to qualify). In the final, after the first try Ponomaryova was second with a throw of 45.16 m, the leader being her teammate

Nina Dumbadze Nina Yakovlevna Dumbadze ( ka, ნინო დუმბაძე; 23 May 1919 – 14 April 1983) was a discus thrower who represented the Soviet Union. She won the European title in 1946 and 1950, and a bronze medal at the 1952 Olympics. Dumbad ...

(45.85 m). In the second try Ponomaryova improved the Olympic record by more than 3 metres (50.84 m). After that she was the leader until the end of the competition. In the third try she set the Olympic record at 51.42 m and earned the first Olympic gold medal for the Soviet Union. Less than a month after the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, on 9 August 1952 in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

Ponomaryova set a new world record at 53.61 m. In 1954 she won a European title, and in 1956 an Olympic bronze medal. In 1957 she was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

. In 1960 Ponomaryova became an Olympic champion for the second time. In 1966 she finished her career and worked as a coach, first in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, and after 1998 in Moscow.

Personal life

Soon after the 1952 Olympics, Ponomaryova married and gave birth to a son.

Quote

''Only after I had felt a heavy golden circle in my hand, I realized what happened. I am the first Soviet Olympic Champion, you know, the first record-holder of the 15th Olympiad...Tears were stinging my eyes. How happy I was!..''. After her win at the

. In

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

:''Только ощутив в руке тяжелый золотой кружок, я осознала, что произошло. Ведь я первая советская олимпийская чемпионка, первая рекордсменка XV Олимпиады... Слезы щипали глаза. Как я была счастлива!..''.

References

External links

Romashkova-Ponomaryova rzutyiskoki.pl

Nina Ponomaryova's profile in the Modern Museum of Sports
includes photos of her and some of her decorations

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponomaryova, Nina 1929 births 2016 deaths Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic bronze medalists for 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 Soviet female discus throwers Russian female discus throwers Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from Yekaterinburg Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Burials at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery