Irina Natanovna Press[nb 1] (10 March 1939 – 22 February 2004) was a multitalented Soviet athlete who competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. In 1960, she won a gold medal in the 80 m hurdles and finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m relay. In 1964, she finished fourth in the hurdles and sixth in the shot put, but won gold in the newly introduced pentathlon event.[1][2][3]
 Irina Press at the 1964 Olympics | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 10 March 1939 Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 22 February 2004 (aged 64) Moscow, Russia | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 75 kg (165 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Pentathlon, sprint running, shot put | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Dynamo St. Petersburg Dynamo Moscow | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Together with her elder sister, Tamara, Irina set 26 world records between 1959 and 1966.[4] In 1967, she won her last USSR Championship. Both Press sisters ended their careers abruptly when gender verification was introduced.[5][6] Some have suggested that the Press sisters were male or intersex. Another allegation was that they were being injected with male hormones by the Soviet government in order to make them stronger.[7][8] In wartime Soviet evacuation lists from 1942 (at age 3) Irina Press is documented as a girl.[9]
After retiring from competitions, Press earned a degree in physical education and coached at her club Dynamo Moscow. She also took posts in the Soviet sports administration, such as department head of the Soviet and later Russian State Committee on Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism. From 2000 and until her death in 2004, she headed the Moscow Committee of Physical Culture and Sports.[1][10]
Notes
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- ^ a b Irina Press Archived 19 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
- ^ "Irina Press (Soviet athlete)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Britannica.com. July 2024.
- ^ "Irina Press". Telegraph. 31 May 2004.
- ^ Tamara PRESS – URSS – 1960 and 1964 Olympic Shot Put champion. Sporting Heroes
- ^ "Gender testing in sport". Reuters. 20 December 2006.
- ^ Wallechinsky, David (2012). The Book of Olympic Lists. Aurum Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1845137731.
- ^ "Switch hitter: If a man has a sex change can he compete in the Olympics as a woman?" thestraightdope.com; 22 August 2008
- ^ "Irina Press Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com". 17 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
- ^ Ira Press in evacuation lists (1942).
- ^ "Irina Press | Soviet athlete | Britannica". www.britannica.com. July 2024.