Galina KREFT-ALEKSEEVA

Galina Kreft, later married as Alekseyeva, was one of the top female canoeists in the 1970s. She never won a world title, but was runner-up no less than seven times: in the K1 (1975, 1979), the K2 (1975) and the K4 (1974-75, 1979, 1983). She had more luck at the Olympics, winning the K2 gold at the 1976 Olympics with Nina Gopova-Trofimova. The duo returned at the 1980 Moskva Olympics, but were beaten by the East German boat. Kreft-Alekseyeva, who was from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) also won the 1974 European K4 title, as well as four Soviet titles between 1974 and 1979.