A month before the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Kazankina became the first woman to run 1500 m in under 4 minutes, her time of 3:56.0 beating Ludmila Bragina's world record by 5.4 seconds. She won the 1500 m and 800 m golds in the Montreal games, setting a world record in the latter. In 1980, she ran the 1500 m in 3:52.47, becoming the first woman to run the distance faster than Paavo Nurmi. This stood as a world record for thirteen years.
Her career came to an abrupt end in September 1984 when she was suspended for 18 months for refusing to undertake a drugs test after winning a 1,500m race in 3:58.63 in Paris.
Apart from her sports achievements, Kazankina is known for her scientific works. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the Leningrad State University in 1975. Later she defended her dissertation for the Candidate of Pedagogical Science degree at the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Education and worked as a lecturer until 1997. She is the author of more than 20 scientific works.
