Nijolė Sabaitė (née Razienė; born August 12, 1950 in

Raseiniai Raseiniai (; Samogitian dialect, Samogitian: ''Raseinē'') is a city in Lithuania. It is located on the south eastern foothills of the Samogitians highland, some north from the A1 highway (Lithuania), Kaunas–Klaipėda highway. History Grand ...

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

) is a retired Lithuanian middle distance runner who represented internationally the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. She trained at VSS Nemunas in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. Sabaitė began athletics in 1967 and was a member of the USSR National Team since 1970. She competed mainly in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, 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 a ...

, and won an Olympic silver medal in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, between Germans

Hildegard Falck Hildegard Falck (née ''Janze'' on 8 June 1949) is a retired West German runner. At the 1972 Olympics she won a gold medal in the 800 m and a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay with West German team. In the 800 m final she finished 0.1 seconds ...

(gold) and Gunhild Hoffmeister (bronze). She also won 800m silver at the

1973 Summer Universiade The 1973 Summer Universiade, also known as the VII Summer Universiade, took place in Moscow, Soviet Union. Sports * * * * * * * * * * Venues at the 1973 Summer Universiade * ( Central Lenin Stadium) * ( Sport Palace of the Central Lenin S ...

behind Lilyana Tomova from

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, studying in Vilnius Pedagogical Institute. In 1972 she was awarded the

Order of the Badge of Honor The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union. It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...

References

External links

* * * * * * 1950 births Living people Lithuanian female middle-distance runners Soviet female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union People from Raseiniai Sportspeople from Kaunas County Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Soviet Union Medalists at the 1973 Summer Universiade Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences alumni Soviet Athletics Championships winners {{USSR-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub