Tatyana Vasilyevna Kazankina (; born 17 December 1951 in Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a Soviet/Russian former runner who set seven world records and won a total of three gold medals at the Olympic Games. She was also awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and the title Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR in 1976. Kazankina competed for VSS Burevestnik. A month before the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Kazankina became the first woman to run 1500 m in under 4 minutes, her time of 3:56.0 beating Ludmila Bragina's world record by 5.4 seconds. She won the 1500 m and 800 m golds in the Montreal games, setting a world record in the latter. In 1980, she ran the 1500 m in 3:52.47, becoming the first woman to run the distance faster than Paavo Nurmi. This stood as a world record for thirteen years. Her career came to an abrupt end in September 1984 when she was suspended for 18 months for refusing to undertake a drugs test after winning a 1,500m race in 3:58.63 in Paris. Apart from her sports achievements, Kazankina is known for her scientific works. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the Leningrad State University in 1975. Later she defended her dissertation for the Candidate of Pedagogical Science degree at the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Education and worked as a lecturer until 1997. She is the author of more than 20 scientific works. Kazankina lives in Saint Petersburg where she worked at the State Committee of Physical Culture and Tourism of Russian Federation. In 2023, she criticized the International Olympic Committee for requiring Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag and called "absurd" the idea of them condemning the "special military operation". See also List of doping cases in sport References External links Almost Forgotten Star: Interview with Tatiana Kazankina Detailed biography http://www.alltime-athletics.com/w_1500no.htm 1951 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Burevestnik (sports society) athletes Doping cases in athletics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Olympic athletes of the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union People from Petrovsk Soviet female middle-distance runners Russian female middle-distance runners Soviet sportspeople in doping cases Russian sportspeople in doping cases World Athletics Championships medalists