Born Tamara Kazachkova (Russian: Тамара Казачкова) in Kazanovka in the Chelyabinsk Oblast, her first major tournament was the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

[2] She represented the Soviet Union in the latter event at the 1974 European Athletics Indoor Championships and came away with her first international medal, taking the bronze behind Bulgaria's Tonka Petrova and Karin Krebs of East Germany.

[4] She was the second fastest woman of the 1980 indoor season, running 4:07.8 minutes to place behind only Mary Decker of the United States.

[7] This ensured her place on the national team for the 1981 IAAF World Cup and she again finished ahead of Bruns, as well as future Olympic champion Gabriella Dorio.

Her compatriots took the top two spots, but Sorokina failed to produce her season's best and finished in sixth place.