Her husband Nikolay Gusakov also competed at the 1960 Winter Olympics and claimed bronze in Nordic combined event.

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

[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.

[4] She also added another medal to her tally at 1960 Olympics by claiming a silver 3 × 5 km relay event.