Galina Zybina

Galina Zybina

Zybina at the 1952 Olympics

Personal information

Born

22 January 1931 (age 93)
Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

Height

1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)

Weight

80 kg (176 lb)

Sport

Shot put
Discus throw
Javelin throw

Club

Zenit St. Petersburg
Trud St. Petersburg^[1]

Coached by

Viktor Alekseyev^[2]

Achievements and titles

Personal best(s)

17.50 m (SP, 1964)
48.62 m (DT, 1955)
54.98 m (JT, 1958)^[3]

Medal record

Representing Soviet Union

Olympic Games
	1952 Helsinki	Shot put
	1956 Melbourne	Shot put
	1964 Tokyo	Shot put
European Championships
	1950 Brussels	Javelin
	1954 Bern	Shot put
	1954 Bern	Discus throw
	1962 Belgrade	Shot put

Galina Ivanovna Zybina (Russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Зы́бина, born 22 January 1931) is a retired Soviet and Russian athlete and coach. She competed in the shot put at the 1952, 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics and finished in first, second, seventh and third place, respectively; in 1952 she also finished fourth in the javelin throw. Between 1952 and 1956, she set eight consecutive world records^[3] and 14 national records in the shot put.^[4] In 1953, she became the first woman to throw over 16 meters when she threw 16.20 m.^[5]

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Biography

As a child Zybina was much weakened by hunger and cold during the Siege of Leningrad in World War II, which killed her mother and brother,^[4] while her father died at the front lines.^[6] Yet, by 1950, she had become a top Soviet thrower and won a bronze in the javelin at the European championships. During her entire career as a competitor and coach Zybina accentuated on technique rather than strength. Owing to her age, she was left out of the Soviet team before the 1968 Olympics and retired in 1969, although she was still the second-best Soviet shot putter at the time. In retirement she worked as athletics coach in Värska.^[5]

Zybina was married to Yury Fyodorov, a Russian captain and commander of the Russian cruiser Aurora in 1964–85. The cruiser was famous for starting the 1917 October Revolution, but by 1960s was a museum ship.^[5] In 1959 she gave birth to a son, which caused her to demonstrate a sub-par performance at the 1960 Olympics (seventh place).