Tamara Andreevna Tyshkevich ( be, Тамара Андрэеўна Тышкевіч, russian: Тамара Андреевна Тышкевич; 31 March 1931 – 27 December 1997) was a Soviet

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 ...

ter. She won an Olympic gold medal in 1956 and placed fourth in 1952, losing to her long-term rival

Galina Zybina Galina Ivanovna Zybina (russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Зы́бина, born 22 January 1931) is a retired Soviet and Russian athlete and coach. She competed in the shot put at the 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and finished in fir ...

. At the European championships she won a bronze medal in 1954 and a silver in 1958. Tyshkevich was born in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

her family fled to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, where she spent most of her life. She took up athletics in 1947 and retired in 1962, becoming an athletics coach.

References

1931 births 1997 deaths Soviet female shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Belarusian female shot putters Sportspeople from Vitebsk European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1956 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) {{USSR-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub