Nina Ponomaryova

Nina Ponomaryova

Nina Ponomaryova at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1929-04-27)27 April 1929 Smychka, Ural Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	19 August 2016(2016-08-19) (aged 87) Moscow, Russia
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	84 kg (185 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Discus throw
Club	Soviet Army
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	56.62 (1955)
Medal record Representing the  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki Discus throw 1960 Rome Discus throw 1956 Melbourne Discus throw European Championships 1954 Bern Discus throw

Nina Apollonovna Ponomaryova (Russian: Нина Аполлоновна Пономарёва; née Romashkova; Russian: Ромашкова; 27 April 1929 – 19 August 2016) was a Russian discus thrower and the first Soviet Olympic champion.

Ponomaryova became interested in athletics in 1947, when she entered the Physical Training Faculty of the Stavropol Pedagogical Institute. Her first official performance was in 1948 at the Stavropol Krai Championships, where she set a new regional record at 30.53 m. After just three years of training she became one of the leading Soviet athletes. In 1949 she finished third at the USSR Championships. At that time an experienced coach Dmitry Markov began to train her. In 1951 Romashkova became the Soviet champion, she repeated this success in 1952–1956, 1958 and 1959.

In 1952 she was a member of the Soviet team, which participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in history. At that time the Olympic record was held since 1936 Summer Olympics by Gisela Mauermayer at 47.63 m. Ponomaryova won the qualifying round with a throw of 45.05 m (36 m was enough to qualify). In the final, after the first try Ponomaryova was second with a throw of 45.16 m, the leader being her teammate Nina Dumbadze (45.85 m). In the second try Ponomaryova improved the Olympic record by more than 3 metres (50.84 m). After that she was the leader until the end of the competition. In the third try she set the Olympic record at 51.42 m and earned the first Olympic gold medal for the Soviet Union.

Less than a month after the 1952 Summer Olympics, on 9 August 1952 in Odessa Ponomaryova set a new world record at 53.61 m. In 1954 she won a European title, and in 1956 an Olympic bronze medal. In 1957 she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. In 1960 Ponomaryova became an Olympic champion for the second time. Soon after that she finished her career and worked as a coach in Kiev and later in Moscow.