On Monday, sad news arrived from Moscow about the death of Tamara Press, who dominated athletics arenas in the 1960s. Press was 83 years old when he died.
At the European Championships, Press won the discus throw in Stockholm in 1958 and in Belgrade in 1962. In Belgrade, he was also number one in shot put.
Born in the present-day Ukrainian region of Kharkov, Press improved the world record in his career six times in discus and five times in shot put. He marked the best results of his career in 1965: a ball of 18.59 and a puck of 59.70.
Tamara Press’s sister Irina Press won Olympic gold in the 80-meter hurdles in 1960 and pentathlon in 1964. Both Tamara and Irina ended their careers in 1966, when the genders of athletes began to be tested. Irina died in 2004.
After her career, Tamara worked as an athletics coach in Moscow and wrote books on sports and economics, among other things. He defended his doctorate in education in 1974.