sprinter athletics competitor middle-distance runner
Otkalenko became the most successful record breaker in the women"s 800 m during the 1950s. Starting with a world record of 2:12.0 minutes in 1951, she went on to improve her own 800 metres world record four more times. Spearheading a significant improvement in women"s times in the event over her career, her last world record of 2:05.0 minutes in 1955 stood for almost five years, before it was beaten by her compatriot Lyudmila Shevtsova.
She ranked number one in the world in the 800 m every year from 1951 to 1958, bar 1956 and 1957 when she ranked second to Lyudmila Lysenko and Yelizaveta Yermolayeva.
She also set world records in the pre-IAAF era, with a Women"s 400 metres world record of 55.5 in 1954 and also a 1500 metres world record of 4:37.0 minutes in 1952. She was highly successful in domestic competition, ending her career with a total of 22 Soviet titles in track and field and cross country disciplines.
400 metres – 55.0 seconds (1954)
800 metres – 2.05.0 minutes (1955)
1500 metres – 4:37.0 minutes (1952).
She won the European title in that event at the inaugural 1954 European Athletics Championships. Outside of her European title, she won medals at the World Festival of Youth and Students, twice winning the 800 m title in 1953 and 1955, as well as taking 400 metres silver medals at both those championships.
