Vera Krepkina

Vera Krepkina

Vera Krepkina (right) at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Born	16 April 1933 (1933-04-16) (age 83) Kotelnich, Russia
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Sprint, long jump
Club	Lokomotiv Vologda Lokomotiv Kiev
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m – 11.3 (1958) LJ – 6.37 m (1960)
Medal record Representing  Soviet Union Olympic Games 1960 Rome Long jump European Championships 1954 Bern 4×100 m relay 1958 Stockholm 4×100 m relay 1958 Stockholm 100 m

Vera Samuilovna Krepkina (later Kalashnikova, Russian: Вера Самуиловна Крепкина (Калашникова); born 16 April 1933) is a retired Russian track athlete who competed for the Soviet Union at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics. At all these Olympics she finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m relay and was eliminated in the heats of the 100 m sprint. In 1960 she also took part in the long jump and won a surprise gold medal with an Olympic record of 6.37 m, ahead of the defending champion Elżbieta Krzesińska and the world record holder Hildrun Claus.

At the European Championships she won gold medals in the 4 × 100 m relay in 1954 and 1958 and finished second in the 100 m in 1958. She was a member of the Soviet team that set a world record in the 4 × 100 m relay in 1956, and she tied the world record (11.3 seconds) in the 100 meter dash in 1958. During her career Krepkina won eight Soviet titles: 100 m in 1952, 1957 and 1958; 200 m in 1952; 4 × 100 m relay in 1952, 1960 and 1965; and 4 × 200 m relay in 1952. In retirement she worked as a children's athletics coach in Ukraine.