Maria Itkina

Maria (also "Mariya" and "Marina") Leontievna Itkina (; ; 3 May 19321 December 2020) was a Soviet runner who set multiple world records in various sprint events. She competed at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Olympics and finished four times in fourth place.

Early life Itkina was born in Roslavl in the Smolensk region of the Soviet Union on 3 May 1932. She later moved with her family to Minsk in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Itkina competed in athletics for Spartak Minsk and Dynamo Minsk. and two in the 400 m (53.7 s in 1958 and 53.4 s in 1962).

In her three Olympics, Itkina came in fourth in four events: the 4 × 100 m relay in 1956 and 1960, and the 100 m and 200 m sprint in 1960; she finished fifth in the 400 m in 1964. Her differences with the bronze medalists in the individual events were 0.06, 0.03 and 0.2 seconds, respectively. In 1956 she was eliminated in the 200 m semi-finals coming in 0.01 seconds behind the qualifier Norma Croker. Itkina also won a sprint event at the first (1965) European Cup. In 1961, she tied the indoor 60 meter world record of 7.3 seconds, and in 1963 she was part of the Soviet 800-meter relay team that set a world record of 1.34.7.

Awards Itkina was recognised as an Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR and an Honoured Trainer of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1957 she was appointed a member of the Order of the Badge of Honour and in 1960 was awarded the Medal "For Labour Valour". In 2000 she was awarded the IOC Prize for Contribution to the Olympic Movement and in 2006 became a third class member of the Russian Order "For Merit to the Fatherland". In 1991 she was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.