Vera Krepkina

Vera Krepkina
	Krepkina (right) at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Born	15 April 1933; Kotelnich, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	25 April 2023 (aged 90); Kyiv, Ukraine
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Sport
Country	Soviet Union
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Sprints, long jump
Club	Lokomotiv Vologda; Lokomotiv Kiev
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 11.3 (1958); Long jump: 6.37 m (1960)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Soviet Union
Olympic Games
European Championships

Vera Samuilovna Krepkina (later Kalashnikova, Russian: Вера Самуиловна Крепкина (Калашникова); 15 April 1933 – 25 April 2023) was a Soviet-Ukrainian track and field athlete. She 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.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.^[2]

Krepkina died on 25 April 2023, at the age of 90.^[4]