Tatyana Sevryukova

Tatyana Nikitichna Sevryukova (; 30 June 1917 – 1981) was a Soviet track and field athlete who competed mainly in the shot put. She was the gold medallist at the 1946 European Athletics Championships and broke the world record for the event in 1948.

Career Early career Born in Tashkent in the Uzbek SSR, she was a member of various sports clubs during her career with the main ones being Moscow-based: Spartak from 1937 to 1945 and Dynamo Sports Club from 1946 to 1952. She was trained by Oleg Lakerbay and Dmitri Markov during those periods. She placed herself at the peak of the sport nationally with wins at the Soviet Athletics Championships in 1939 and 1940, then again in 1944 and 1945. She was also entered into the discus throw event and was the third best qualifier before throwing shorter in the final and finishing sixth overall.

World record Sevryukova ranked number one for two more years with marks of in 1947 and in 1948, making it six consecutive years as the world's number one. With the Soviet Union having given recognition to the Soviet Athletics Federation, she finally gained official status as the world record holder with a mark of in 1948, adding twenty one centimetre's to the previous best by Gisela Mauermayer. She achieved the mark at a competition especially organised as an alternative to the 1948 London Olympics, at which the Soviet's did not compete, and Sevryukova's mark was easily better than Ostermeyer's winning Olympic record throw. Her world record stood for a little over a year before Soviet rival Klavdiya Tochonova claimed the world record for herself, although it was not until 1950 that Anna Andreyeva improved the record beyond Sevryukova's unofficial best. Sevryukova also had unratified world indoor records in the shot put, with throws of and in February 1947, then in February 1948. Ironically, Sevryukova achieved her career best mark that year, with a throw of . She had her last top three world ranking at the age of 36 in 1953 before her performances declined. She retired after the 1955 season.

The Soviet Union was similarly dominant at major international competitions: after Sevryukova's European gold in 1946, only two athletes from outside the Soviet Union (Marianne Werner and Margitta Gummel) managed to win an Olympic or European gold medal in the thirty years after that.

Personal bests Shot put: (1952) Shot put indoor: (1948) Discus throw: (1939)

National titles Soviet Athletics Championships Shot put: 1939, 1940, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947

International competitions