European Athletics is saddened to hear of the passing of Ukrainian sprinter Tatiana Burakova at the age of 67 after a serious illness.
Competing under her maiden name of Prorochenko, Burakova won medals for the Soviet Union in both the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Games. After leading the Soviet Union to bronze in the 4x100m at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Burakova ran the first leg of their gold medal-winning team in the 4x400m on home soil at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow where they clocked 3:20.12 to beat reigning champions East Germany whose team included world record-holder Marita Koch.
Burakova also finished sixth individually in the 200m at the 1976 Olympic Games, third in the same event at the 1977 World Cup in Dusseldorf and won a silver medal in the 4x400m at the 1978 European Athletics Championships in Prague.
After finishing her competitive career, Burakova worked as a coach for the Ukrainian national team.
Her husband Viktor Burakov also won a gold medal in the 4x400m relay at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow where he ran in the heats. Their son Volodymyr also represented Ukraine at four successive editions of the European Championships in the 400m and 4x400m relay.