Tatyana Alekseyevna Kolpakova (Abbyasova) (russian: Татьяна Алексеевна Колпакова (Аббясова)) (born October 18, 1959 in village Alamedin,

Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...

) is a retired

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er who represented the

USSR 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 nationa ...

. Kolpakova began athletics at the age of 15. On May 9, 1974 she competed at the All-Union junior competition on the

Central Lenin Stadium Luzhniki Stadium ( rus, стадион «Лужники», p=stədʲɪˈon lʊʐnʲɪˈkʲi, ''Stadion Luzhniki'') is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. The full name of the stadium is Grand Sports Arena of the ...

and was second with a result of 5.90 metres. In the same year she entered Economical faculty of Kirghiz University in Frunze, which she left after three years of study. Later Kolpakova graduated from the Physical faculty of the same university. In 1978 she passed a test for the ''Master of Sports of the USSR'' title with a result of 6.30 metres, competing at the ''All-Union Jumper's Day'' competition in Chişinău. She joined the USSR team in 1979 and competed for it at the 1980 Summer Olympics in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. In what is considered one of the greatest come from behind victories in the history of the sport, Kolpakova won the gold medal with her last jump of 7.06 metres which improved her personal best by nine inches and was a new record for the sport. She later remarked that "one should always fight until the end." She became the ''

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

''. After finishing her competitive career Kolpakova worked for some time as a coach. She was awarded the title of ''Kirghiz Athlete of the Century''. Soon after, a track and field championship was established in Bishkek in her honor. The championship is held annually in Bishkek, usually in May, and participants from surrounding countries are invited. In 2001, Kolpakova moved to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

with her family. The first few years she worked as a director of an athletic club there. In 2004, she began her work at the Olympic Committee for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism in Korolev City. She is still currently working there, as second in command. She is married to Shamil Abbyasov (whom she met on the same USSR national team) and has three children.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolpakova, Tatyana 1959 births Living people People from Chüy Region Kyrgyzstani female long jumpers Soviet female long jumpers Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade