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Irina Press

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Irina Press

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Also known as Irina Natanowna Press, Irina Natanovna Press

Soviet athlete (1939-2004)

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Encyclopedic overview

Irina Natanovna Press (10 March 1939 – 22 February 2004) was a 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.

Together with her elder sister, Tamara, Irina set 26 world records between 1959 and 1966. In 1967, she won her last USSR Championship. Both Press sisters ended their careers abruptly when gender verification was introduced. 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. In wartime Soviet evacuation lists from 1942 (at age 3) Irina Press is documented as a girl.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Irina Press” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.