Tamara Press

Along with her sister Irina, Tamara Press was a dominant force in women’s track & field athletics in the early 1960s. While Irina competed in a lot of different events (sprints, hurdling, jumps, weight throwing and pentathlon), Tamara was mainly known as a weight thrower. Tamara made her international début at the 1958 European Championships, where she won the discus title and bronze in the shot. Next Tamara competed at the 1960 Olympics, where she won gold in shot put, but was upset by her compatriot Nina Romashkova-Ponomaryova in the discus and had to settle for a silver medal. At the 1962 European Championships, Press won both the shot and discus titles and she repeated that feat at the 1964 Olympics. Press was also the Universiade shot put and discus throw champion in 1961 and 1963. Domestically, Press won 16 Soviet titles, nine shot (1958-66) and seven discus (1960-66).

During her career, Press also set 11 world records – five in the shot put (17.25/1959, 17.42/17.78/1960, 18.55/1962, 18.59/1965) and six in the discus (57.15/1960, 57.43/58.06/58.98/1961, 59.29/1963, 59.70/1965). Both Press sisters retired from athletics in 1966, coinciding with the introduction of required gender verification in track and field. This led to widespread – yet never proven – rumors regarding Press’s gender. After finishing her sporting career, Tamara Press worked as an athletics coach and official in Moscow.

Personal Bests: SP – 18.59 (1965); DT – 59.70 (1965).