Tatyana Averina

Tatyana Averina

Tatyana Averina in 1979
Personal information
Born	25 June 1950 Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Died	22 August 2001 (aged 61) Moscow, Russia
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
Sport	Speed skating
Club	Burevestnik
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1976 Innsbruck 1,000 m 1976 Innsbruck 3,000 m 1976 Innsbruck 500 m 1976 Innsbruck 1,500 m World Championships 1974 Heerenveen Allround 1975 Assen Allround 1976 Gjøvik Allround 1978 Helsinki Allround

Tatyana Borisovna Averina (Russian: Татья́на Бори́совна Аве́рина; 25 June 1950 – 22 August 2001) was a Soviet Russian speed skater. After getting married, her name would also appear as Tatyana Barabash (Russian: Татьяна Барабаш).

Averina was trained by Boris Stenin at Burevestnik Voluntary Sports Society in Gorky. In 1970 she was selected for the USSR National Team. She finished in 12th place at the 1970 World All-around Championships and next year won a bronze medal in the 1,000 m at European Championships. In 1972, she won the 500 m event at the Winter Universiade.

Between 1974 and 1975 Averina broke world records eleven times: four times in the 1000 m, twice in the 1,500 m, twice in the 500 m and three times in the mini combination. In 1976 she earned the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR. She participated in the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck and won medals (two gold and two bronze) on all four distances. Ironically, the Swiss newspaper Sport had written shortly before the Olympic Games, "Narrow specialisation has solidly taken root in the skating sport and these days it will be very hard to find an athlete who will compete in all distances and achieve successes in all, similar to Clas Thunberg and Lidia Skoblikova."

Averina took part in the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, but did not win any medal. After having won 3 silver medals in earlier years (1974, 1975 and 1976), Averina became World Allround Champion in 1978. In 1979, she became Soviet Allround Champion. Earlier, she had become Soviet Sprint Champion three times (1973, 1974 and 1975).