Marina Stepanova is a former Soviet track and field

Track and field

Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 athlete who was the first woman to run under 53 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles

400 metres hurdles

The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly...

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Career

Marina Stepanova started to compete internationally in 1978 at the European Championships in Prague where she finished sixth in her semifinal heat. In this year she had a PB of 56.19 seconds in the 400m hurdles. In 1979 she broke the world record for the first time (54.78 seconds) beating Tatyana Zelentsova the current world record holder at the time, she would eventually break the record two more times. In 1981 she retired to give birth to a daughter. She returned in 1983 and quickly regained her form. In 1984 she tied her PB and later brought it down to 54.34 seconds then 53.67 seconds. At the European Championships

1986 European Championships in Athletics

The 14th European Athletics Championships were held from 26 to 31 August 1986 at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart, a city in West Germany.-Track:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Field:1978 | 1982 | 1986 | 1990 | 1994-Track:...

 in 1986 won the gold medal in a world record time of 53.32 seconds. 3 weeks later in Tashkent

Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...

, Marina became the first woman in history to run under 53 seconds in a time of 52.94 seconds in the 400m hurdles. She was 36. After the 1987 season she retired at the age of 37.

Olympics

Marina Stepanova was never able to compete at the Olympics. The 400m hurdles was not introduced for women until 1984 in Los Angeles

Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, 41 events in athletics were contested, 24 events by men and 17 by women. There were a total number of 1273 participating athletes from 124 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:...

 and the she could not compete because of the Soviet boycott and by the 1988 season she had retired so she could not compete in Seoul

Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul a total number of 42 events in athletics were contested: 24 by men and 18 by women. There were a total number of 1617 participating athletes from 149 countries.-Men's events:...

 either.

Personal Bests

Date	Event	Time	Place
September 17, 1986	400m hurdles	52.94s	Indianapolis Indianapolis Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
March 6, 1987	400m	54.78s	Tashkent Tashkent Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:... , USSR