Yevdokiya Mekshilo

Although Yevdokiya Mekshilo was one of the best Soviet female skiers of the 1950s, a leg injury (she tore a meniscus and the injury never healed properly) sustained when falling in practice in 1954 hampered her entire career and kept her from more success. Mekshilo rose into prominence after she moved to Leningrad to study at the university and started to train under legendary Soviet cross-country skiing coach Aleksey Bazhenov along with other early Soviet stars like Lyubov Kozyreva, Mariya Gusakova and Alevtina Kolchina. Mekshilo competed at the 1954 World Championships, placing 13th on the 10 km race, but missed the 1956 Olympics due to her leg injury, and the 1958 World Championships because she gave a birth to a son. In 1960 Mekshilo was again injured, so she made her second international championships appearance at the 1962 World Championships. At those World Championships, the first event, the 5 km race, was held in heavy snow and Mekshilo again hurt her leg during the race. In spite of that she was able to finish the race in sixth position, but was unable to compete in other events. Her next international appearance came at the 1964 Olympics, where she won gold in the relay race, was second at 10 km and fourth in the 5 km. Mekshilo made her last international appearance at the 1966 World Championships, where she finished fourth at both 5 and 10 km. Domestically Mekshilo never won an individual Soviet title, but was Soviet champion in the relay race seven times (1954, 1955, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1965 and 1966). After her competitive career Mekshilo worked as a cross-country skiing coach.