Nadezhda Besfamilnaya

Nadezhda Viktorovna Besfamilnaya (Russian: Надежда Викторовна Бесфамильная, born 27 December 1950) is a Soviet-born Russian former sprint athlete. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 1976 Summer Olympics.

Nadezhda Besfamilnaya

Personal information
Native name	Надежда Бесфамильная
Born	(1950-12-27) 27 December 1950 (age 74) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	166 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	55 kg (121 lb)
Sport
Country	Soviet Union
Sport	Athletics
Events	100 metres 200 metres 4 × 100 metres relay
Club	CSKA Moscow
Coached by	Zoya Petrova[1]
Retired	1978
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	100 metres: 11.41 (1976) 200 metres: 22.8 (1972)
Medal record Women's athletics Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 4 × 100 m relay World University Games 1973 Moscow 4 × 100 m relay

Competitive career

Besfamilnaya trained at CSKA Moscow, the Armed Forces sports society in Moscow. From a young age she was coached by Zoya Petrova [ru], who remained her coach throughout her career.

She made her Olympic debut at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Her most successful race was the 4 × 100 metres relay, in which she finished fifth with teammates Galina Bukharina, Marina Sidorova, and Lyudmila Zharkova. Besfamilnaya also qualified for the semifinals in the 200 metres but did not advance to the medal round. She was scheduled to compete in the 100 metres but did not start.

She represtented the Soviet Union at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada and won Olympic bronze in the 4 × 100 metres relay with her teammates Tatyana Prorochenko, Lyudmila Maslakova, and Vera Anisimova.

Coaching career

Following her retirement from competition, Besfamilnaya worked at a children's sports school, where she for a future career as a sprinting coach. After six years spent developing the "necessary pedagogical skills" at the school, she made the jump to professional coaching and began a coaching partnership with Zoya Petrova, her former coach.^[2]