Yelizaveta Aleksandrovna Yermolayeva ( rus, Елизавета Александровна Ермолаева; born 2 April 1930) is a former

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 ...

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distance event. The 1 ...

. Yermolayeva won 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 t ...

at the

1957 World University Games 1957 World University Games were held between 31 August and 8 September. They were organised under the direction of Jean Petitjean by the Paris Université Club, Paris University Club in Paris at their Stade Sébastien Charléty, Stadium Charlety. ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, her first international success. She also won at the 1958 European Championships in Stockholm, beating

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Diane Leather Diane S Leather Charles (7 January 19335 September 2018) was an English athlete who was the first woman to run a sub-5-minute mile. Early life Leather was born in Streetly, Staffordshire. She was one of six children, and the only daughter, ...

in the championship record time of 2:06.3;

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

n sports statistician Jan Popper ranked her the world's best at the distance that year. Yermolayeva was one of the favorites for the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, but was unable to compete due to injuries.

References

1930 births Living people Soviet female middle-distance runners Sportspeople from Nizhny Novgorod Oblast European Athletics Championships medalists Athletes from Minsk {{USSR-athletics-bio-stub