sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Maria Ivanovna Gusakova (Russian: Мари́я Ива́новна Гусако́ва; 2 February 1931 – 8 May 2022)[1] was a Soviet cross-country skier who competed from the late 1950s to the early 1960s for VSS Spartak. She won a complete set of Winter Olympic medals with a gold in the 10 km (1960), a silver in the 3 × 5 km relay (1960), and a bronze in the 10 km (1964). Gusakova also earned a complete set of medals at the 1962 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with a gold in the 3 × 5 km relay, a silver in the 10 km, and a bronze in the 5 km. Her husband Nikolay Gusakov also competed at the 1960 Winter Olympics and claimed bronze in Nordic combined event.[2]

Maria Gusakova

Medal record
Women's cross-country skiing
Representing  Soviet Union
Olympic Games
	1960 Squaw Valley	10 km
	1960 Squaw Valley	3 × 5 km relay
	1964 Innsbruck	10 km
World Championships
	1962 Zakopane	3 × 5 km relay
	1962 Zakopane	10 km
	1962 Zakopane	5 km

Biography

She was born in the village of Timoshkino, Shilovsky District, Ryazan Oblast.

Career

She made her international debut at the 1958 World Championships and placed at tenth position in 10km event.

She made her Olympic debut representing Soviet Union at the 1960 Summer Olympics and during when she made her Olympic debut, she wasn't considered as the top Soviet skier and wasn't a favorite or contention to win a medal at 1960 Olympics.[2] But much to everyone's surprise, she defied the odds to win gold in the cross-country skiing women's 10km event at the 1960 Winter Olympics and managed to outclass her fellow Soviet skiers including Lyubov Kozyreva, Radya Yeroshina and Alevtina Kolchina with a strong finish.[2] She was actually trialling around 23 minutes behind the leader at the halfway point but managed to claim the gold in dramatic finish.[3] This eventually also marked the first instance for Soviet Union for a podium finish at an Olympic event with Soviet skiers clean sweeping the 10km event.[4]

She also added another medal to her tally at 1960 Olympics by claiming a silver 3 × 5 km relay event.[5] She made her second Olympic appearance representing Soviet Union at the 1964 Winter Olympics. During the 1964 Winter Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the women's 10 km event; her third and final Olympic medal of her career.[6]

She won a total of six Soviet national titles in her career including 10km in 1960 and 1961, 5km in 1960 and relay in 1958, 1962 and 1966.[3]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[7]

Olympic Games

• 3 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

Year	Age	5 km	10 km	3 × 5 km   relay
1960	29	N/A	Gold	Silver
1964	33	—	Bronze	—

World Championships

• 3 medals – (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

Year	Age	5 km	10 km	3 × 5 km   relay
1958	27	N/A	6	—
1962	31	Bronze	Silver	Gold

References

External links

• Maria Gusakova at the International Ski Federation
• Mariya Gusakova at the International Olympic Committee
• Mariya Gusakova at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)

На других языках

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- [en] Maria Gusakova

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[it] Marija Gusakova

Marija Ivanovna Gusakova, nata Kudimova (in russo: Мария Ивановна Кудимова-Гусакова?; 6 febbraio 1931 – San Pietroburgo, 8 maggio 2022), è stata una fondista sovietica.

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[ru] Гусакова, Мария Ивановна

Мария Ивановна Гусакова (в девичестве — Кудимова, род. 6 февраля 1931 года, село Тимошкино, Шиловский район Рязанская область) — советская лыжница, олимпийская чемпионка 1960 года. Заслуженный мастер спорта СССР (1960).

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