Tikhomirova had four straight pentathlon wins at national level from 1969 to 1972, including a championship best of 5120 at the 1971 Spartakiade, which was never bettered (the heptathlon replaced the pentathlon the programme in 1981). She remained among the world's best in her event, but narrowly missed out on further medals in the rest of her career, placing fourth at the 1969 European Athletics Championships and fifth at both the 1971 European Athletics Championships and 1972 Summer Olympics.