Tamara TYSHKEVICH

Born in Belarus, Tamara Tyshkevich took up athletics in 1947 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), where her family had fled during World War II. Tyshkevich was one of the world’s top female shot putters during the 1950s, although she was under the shadow of another Soviet shot putter from Leningrad, Galina Zybina. Tyshkevich managed to beat Zybina three times in major competitions: first at the 1956 Soviet Championships, where she won her first Soviet title; next at the 1956 Olympics, where Tyshkevich won a gold medal with a personal best 16.59; and finally at the 1957 Soviet Championships, where she won her second Soviet title. Besides those titles, Tyshkevich won silver at the 1958 European Championships, bronze at the 1954 European Championships and was fourth at the 1952 Olympics. Tyshkevich also won two silvers (1953-54) and three bronzes (1955, 1958, 1960) at the Soviet Championships. Tyshkevich retired from competition in 1962 and later worked as an athletics coach in her native Leningrad.

Personal Best: SP – 16.59 (1956).