Tatyana Averina

Tatyana Borisovna Averina (Russian: Татья́на Бори́совна Аве́рина; 25 June 1950 – 22 August 2001[1]) was a Soviet Russian speed skater. After getting married, her name also appeared as Tatyana Barabash (Russian: Татьяна Барабаш).[2]

Tatyana Averina
Tatyana Averina in 1979
Personal information
Born(1950-06-25)25 June 1950
Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Died22 August 2001(2001-08-22) (aged 51)
Moscow, Russia
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
SportSpeed skating
ClubBurevestnik
Medal record
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
1976 Innsbruck 1,000 m
1976 Innsbruck 3,000 m
1976 Innsbruck 500 m
1976 Innsbruck 1,500 m
World Championships
1974 HeerenveenAllround
1975 AssenAllround
1976 GjøvikAllround
1978 HelsinkiAllround

Biography

Averina was trained by Boris Stenin at Burevestnik Voluntary Sports Society in Gorky.[3] In 1970 she was selected for the USSR National Team.[1] She finished in 12th place at the 1970 World All-around Championships and next year won a bronze medal in the 1,000 m at European Championships. In 1972, she won the 500 m event at the Winter Universiade.[2]

Between 1974 and 1975 Averina broke world records eleven times: four times in the 1000 m,[4] twice in the 1,500 m,[5] twice in the 500 m[6] and three times in the mini combination. In 1976 she earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR.[1] She participated in the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and won medals (two gold and two bronze) on all four distances. The Swiss newspaper Sport had written shortly before the Olympic Games, "Narrow specialisation has solidly taken root in the skating sport and these days it will be very hard to find an athlete who will compete in all distances and achieve successes in all, similar to Clas Thunberg and Lidia Skoblikova."[2]

Averina took part in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, but did not win any medal. After having won 3 silver medals in earlier years (1974, 1975 and 1976), Averina became World Allround Champion in 1978. In 1979, she became Soviet Allround Champion. Earlier, she had become Soviet Sprint Champion three times (1973, 1974 and 1975).[2]

Medals
Tatyana Averina in 1975
Tatyana Averina on a 2013 Russian stamp from the series "Sports Legends"

An overview of medals won by Averina at important championships she participated in, listing the years in which she won each:

Championships Gold medalSilver medalBronze medal
Winter Olympics1976 (1,000 m)
1976 (3,000 m)		–1976 (500 m)
1976 (1,500 m)
World Allround19781974
1975
1976		–
World Sprint–––
European Allround–––
Soviet Allround1979––
Soviet Sprint1973
1974
1975		––

World records

Over the course of her career, Averina skated eleven world records:

EventResultDateVenue
1,500 m2:14.001 April 1974Medeo
1,000 m1:26.402 April 1974Medeo
Mini combination180.0892 April 1974Medeo
500 m41.7011 March 1975Medeo
1,500 m2:09.9011 March 1975Medeo
1,000 m1:26.1212 March 1975Medeo
Mini combination176.93012 March 1975Medeo
1,000 m1:25.2822 March 1975Medeo
500 m41.0629 March 1975Medeo
1,000 m1:23.4629 March 1975Medeo
Sprint combination168.28529 March 1975Medeo

Personal records

To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Averina skated her personal records.[2]

EventResultDateVenueWR
500 m41.0629 March 1975Medeo41.69
1,000 m1:23.3 2 October 1979Medeo1:23.46
1,500 m2:07.8812 January 1979Medeo2:07.18
3,000 m4:38.4813 January 1979Medeo4:31.00
5,000 m9:04.9 29 November 1981Moscow9:01.6 

Note that Averina's personal record on the 3,000 m was not a recognised as a world record by the International Skating Union (ISU). Also note that the 5,000 m was suspended as a world record event at the 1955 ISU Congress and was reinstated at the 1982 ISU Congress.

Averina has an Adelskalender score of 184.589.

References
  1. Great Russian Encyclopedia (2006), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 1
  3. Boris Khavin (1979). All about Olympic Games (in Russian) (2nd ed.). Moscow: Fizkultura i sport. p. 528.
  4. "Speed skating, 1000 m – World Record progression". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved January 9, 2006.
  5. "Speed skating, 1500 m – World Record progression". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved January 9, 2006.
  6. "Speed skating, 500m – World Record progression". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved January 9, 2006.


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