Tamara Natanovna Press (10 May 1937 – 26 April 2021) was a Soviet athlete who dominated the shot put and discus throw in the early 1960s. She won three gold medals and one silver medal at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and three European titles in 1958–1962. Between 1959 and 1965, she set 11 world records: five in the shot put and six in the discus. Domestically, she held 16 national titles, nine in the shot put (1958–66) and seven in the discus (1960–66).
Her younger sister Irina Press was also a prominent track athlete, mostly in the sprint events.
Career
Tamara Press was born to parents in Kharkov. Her father died fighting in World War II in 1942, while her mother took the daughters to Samarkand, where they started training in athletics. In 1955, Press moved to Leningrad to train under the renowned coach Viktor Alekseyev. Next year, she was shortlisted for the Olympic team, but was cut due to a strong domestic competition in the throwing events. She subsequently won four Olympic medals, three of them gold.
Retirement and gender rumors
Both sisters were accused of being either secretly male or intersex. They retired in 1966, just before sex verification became mandatory on location. In 1942 wartime Soviet evacuation records (at age 5) Tamara Press is documented as a girl.
In retirement, Press worked as an athletics coach and official in Moscow. She wrote several books on sport, social and economical subjects. In 1974, she defended a PhD in pedagogy. She was awarded the Order of Lenin (1960), Order of the Badge of Honour (1964) and Order of Friendship (1997).
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Photo in old age
1937 births
2021 deaths
Soviet female shot putters
Soviet female discus throwers
Russian female shot putters
Russian female discus throwers
Olympic athletes for the Soviet Union
Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union
Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists FISU World University Games gold medalists for the Soviet Union Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 1961 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1963 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1965 Summer Universiade World record setters in athletics (track and field) Japan Championships in Athletics winners Soviet Athletics Championships winners Sex verification in sports Jewish female athletes (track and field) Russian Jews Sportspeople from Kharkiv Recipients of the Order of Lenin Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering alumni