Elena Vyalbe (Trubitsyna) was born on April 20, 1968 in the city of Magadan. With a population of just over 300 thousand people, it is located on the shores of the icy Sea of ​​Okhotsk. This is the center of the naturally harsh Kolyma region. From early childhood, little Lena watched with interest the skiers who trained on the track that passed near her house. She herself started skiing as soon as she started walking, and at the age of 8 she began serious training.

Successes and victories came quite quickly. At the age of 11, Viktor Tkachenko took Elena to the Magadan region cross-country skiing team, and together with him they reached the main roster of the USSR adult cross-country skiing team. Viktor Maksimovich was her mentor from the 5th grade until she was 20 years old.

Elena learned her first real taste of a big victory early - at the championship of the Central Council of the VSS "Trud". Then Vyalbe won against skiers who were much older in age and took 2nd place. At the age of 14, when the young athlete was awarded the title of Master of Sports, her future was determined. Nature generously endowed Elena with a strong character, athletic talent, and the ability to work. Complete dedication and commitment to the job became the key to success.

She won her first individual gold medal in Italy at the 1987 Junior World Championships. In the same year, Elena marries Estonian skier Urmas Vyalbe and her son France is born, then returns to the ski slopes. Or rather, it flies there like lightning, which no one expected on the ski horizon.

The 1989 World Championships in Lahti brought together all the strongest skiers on the planet. The women's “company” was led by Olympic champions: Finns Matikainen and Kirvesniemi and ours Smetanina and Tikhonova. But no one could resist Elena in the 10 and 30 km freestyle races.

She was 21 years old. At the next World Championships in Italy, Elena confirmed her winning class not only as a “skate” style skier, but also won the 15 km race in the classic style. That’s when they started talking about Vyalba as a “Magadan nugget.”

It seemed that at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992, she would certainly take more than one “gold”... But fate decreed otherwise. She was destined to receive four bronze awards. True, there was a “golden” Russian relay race, where she ran the first stage.

Her second Winter Olympics in Lillehammer in 1994 was even more unlucky. Two weeks before the start, she fell ill and was practically unable to compete on equal terms with the leading female skiers in the world. The only gold award went to her again in the relay race.

Elena Vyalbe's horoscope is Aries, and these are people who strive to be first and are ready to do anything for this. The peak of her career came in 1997, when she won all the gold medals at the World Championships. Five gold awards out of five possible! It was just her championship.

In the history of Russian skiing, the memory of the 1998 Olympics in Nagano (Japan) will forever remain, when athletes from Russia won gold in the 4x5 kilometer relay race. During the first and second stages, the fight for 1st place was between Russian and Norwegian skiers; at the third stage, Elena Vyalbe took the baton, passing the baton to Larisa Lazutina with a gap of 23 seconds over her opponent. This is how Elena Vyalbe ended her sports career brilliantly.

1995 World Championships in Thunder Bay (Canada)

Currently lives in the Moscow region. Actively participates in the sports life of the Moscow region. Since June 17, 2010 he has been the President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation.

This athlete was once called the “Magadan nugget,” and the legendary Finnish racer Mika Myllula even called her the greatest skier of all time. Therefore, we simply could not miss the opportunity to communicate with the famous compatriot skier during her visit to Krasnoyarsk. Meet today's guest - three-time Olympic champion, President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation Elena Vyalbe.

— You were born in Magadan, lived in Tallinn and Moscow...

— Let me correct you right away: I have never lived in Moscow. In Tallinn - yes, when she was married to Urmas Välbe. And after our divorce, I moved, but not to the capital, but to the Moscow region, and since 1991, I’ve actually been living there.

— Nevertheless, you have seen a lot of cities: in which of them do you feel most free and comfortable?

— If we talk about something specific, then this is, of course, Magadan. I try to visit my hometown at least twice a year, however, distance and urgent matters do not always allow such trips.

— You have been both an athlete-skier and a coach of the national ski team, now you head the country’s Ski Federation: what turned out to be more difficult?

- Oh, what’s the problem with being an athlete?! No worries: pick up your skis and run to practice or go to competitions. Being an athlete was one hundred percent mine. But as a coach or leader, of course, everything is much more complicated - much more nervous and many times more responsible. I am still doing what I love, I really want our skiers to be ahead of the rest and show the best results. But being an athlete is many times easier. Although we worked just crazy, and the only strength left was to make it to bed and collapse into it.

— You ended your sports career after the Olympics in Nagano at only thirty years old. Don’t you regret that it’s too early, there could have been a continuation?

— I am still a leader by nature, and staying on the team just to stay in it for some more time is definitely not my thing. At that moment, I understood that my resources - both physical and moral - were exhausted. To say that I left early: it seems like yes, only thirty. But I also came to professional sports very early - at the age of nineteen I became the world champion among adults. And for the next eleven years she ran at the peak of her athletic form. I believe that, having reached the peak of their own capabilities, athletes should leave.

— How is this confirmed by the example of Galina Kulakova, who gave up skiing at the age of forty?

- There are exceptions. But do not forget that Kulakova did not come to big sports at an early age. I believe that for all athletes there is a maximum period, approximately 10-12 years, when a person is able to work hard and produce results. Of course, I could have stayed on the team, no one kicked me out, I left on my own. At that time, I was not the last in the team, but I understood that I would soon begin to give way to the younger ones. But simply serving my time in the national team is not for me.

— You set a record in women’s skiing: five gold medals, the entire set of top awards won at the World Championships in Trondheim in 1997.

“I myself don’t know what happened to me then, how it happened. ( Smiling.)

— But still, do you remember this with pride, do you consider yourself a ski legend?

— I’m absolutely calm. And calling this a record is probably not entirely correct. I believe that it is even incorrect to compare the sets of awards won by athletes, or to declare that someone’s record has been broken. I didn't beat anyone's medal record. How, for example, can you compare me and Kulakova: in her time, skiers ran only three races, and I came when they already ran four at the World Championships and Olympics. Then there were five of them, and now a sixth has been added. Norwegian journalists once asked how I felt about the fact that their skier Marit Bjorgen decided to win all six top awards and do everything to get ahead of me. Yes, for God's sake, if seventeen years later her time has come!

So I don’t consider myself a ski legend. But sometimes I tell our athletes that I would be pleased if they, at least all together, beat me. ( Smiling.) I would like to believe that such a push also somehow stimulates them, spurs them on.

— You have already mentioned that you consider yourself a leader. Your zodiac sign is Aries. They claim that such people generally have a desire to be first. Is this desire really inherent in your character, and at what age did it begin to manifest itself?

— As a child, we lived with my mother’s parents and grandparents for a very long time. My grandfather had a very strong character and kept telling me: “Don’t wait to be hit, hit you in the face first.” I remembered this advice of his for the rest of my life, and now I repeat it to my children and grandchildren.

— Do you consider this an effective life rule?

- It seems to me that if you are convinced that you are right, why endure, allow yourself to be carried around the table with your face? It’s probably better to decide to prove that you’re right yourself. “Hit in the face” is, of course, a figurative expression; everything can be explained clearly by other, completely peaceful methods and means.

— Elena Valerievna, in addition to everything, you are also the chairman of the board of trustees of the women’s hockey club “Tornado” from Dmitrov near Moscow. How is this explained - your passion for ice hockey or simply women's solidarity with female hockey players?

- Probably both. True, it was not me who initiated such guardianship. At that time, I worked as an adviser to the governor of the Moscow region, and the sponsors who were involved in this team were simply my close friends. They offered to head the board of trustees of the hockey club. I agreed, spent a lot of time with the girls, came to their training, and we went to competitions together. I hope that such care has become an incentive for them in some way.

— Have you tried changing your skis to skates yourself?

- And I played hockey! By the way, even before I started skiing. And then the following situation arose: I tried to practice both skiing and skating, and played hockey with the boys. Until one time they smashed my head with a puck. I came to ski training with this injury, and the coach said: “If I hear about your hockey again, I’ll leave you without a head!” After that I had to switch exclusively to skis. ( Smiling.)

— Elena Valerievna, what, in your opinion, is more honorable: to be a three-time Olympic champion or a three-time mother?

- Of course, mom! Absolutely! After all, this is the highest reward for a woman. I don’t know how men feel as fathers, but for a woman, I think there is nothing better than the title of mother.

— Are your children involved in sports?

“There’s nothing to boast about here, my children are not athletic guys.” There is a saying that God rests on children, so I take this calmly. I never tried to take them by the hand and take them to some kind of sport. The eldest, France, was involved in skiing and triathlon while he was little. But, unfortunately, he did not have enough health to seriously continue. The character of the middle daughter, Polina, I honestly admit, does not imply any purposeful activities at all. For the last two or three years, however, she has been saying that she wants to become an artist and plans to enter theater school. But whether this desire will remain in her in another couple of years, I don’t even know. To be fair, I note that for the sake of general development, she has been going to show jumping for three years now, and before that she was engaged in ballroom dancing. Well, the youngest, Varvara, is not yet three years old, so nothing is clear with her yet. There remains hope for grandchildren. France and his wife Tatyana want their children to play sports. They are already instructing: “If you become a hockey or football player, don’t forget that your grandmother is also an athlete, and what a athlete!” Of course, I would really like for someone from our family to also achieve success in life and become a famous person. And not necessarily in the world of sports: let it be music, painting or stage - it doesn’t matter at all. It would be great.

— Are you a happy person?

- Wow, what an unexpected final question! Of course I'm happy. The concept of happiness is different for everyone, special, but I think it’s a shame for me to complain. I did what I loved and achieved heights in it. I dreamed of having many children, at least five. Probably, this dream of mine will never be fully realized ( smiling), but my grandchildren are already growing up! I have an open heart and soul, I am happy to communicate with people - and this is also happiness. Pah-pah-pah - I’m healthy, I’m free of illnesses. It’s sad, of course, that my mother left early. But this is life, and you have to accept it as it is. In a word, I am truly a truly happy person!

DOSSIER

Elena Valerievna VYALBE

Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1989) and Russia (1992) in cross-country skiing

Three-time Olympic champion (Albertville, 1992 and Nagano, 1998), 14-time world champion, five-time World Cup winner

Awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples (1994), “For Services to the Fatherland” III degree (1997), Medal of the Order “For Services to the Fatherland” I degree (2014)

Since 2010 - President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation

Soviet and Russian skier, three-time Olympic champion, 14-time world champion, head coach of the Russian Olympic cross-country team at the Turin Olympics. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1989) and Russia (1992).

In a relatively short period of performances in big sports - 8 years, she won 23 medals: 16 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze. She won such a grueling multi-round competition as the World Cup five times. And all this was done by a woman who did not have any super-outstanding physical qualities. It can rather be called fragile and elegant - it weighs only 52 kg. And he is clearly not a giant in height either - 164 cm. Our ancestors said correctly in the old days - “the spool is small, but expensive.”

Elena Trubitsyna was born on April 24, 1968 in Magadan. The city, whose population is just over 300 thousand people, is located on the shore of the icy Sea of ​​Okhotsk. This is the center of the naturally harsh Kolyma region, which is rich in various non-ferrous metals, including gold. The average temperature, for example, in January is from −19° to −38 °C. “What about training?” - you will probably ask. Probably we need to wait until it “releases” by at least ten degrees. “If you wait until it’s warmer,” Lena laughs, “you can skip the entire winter season.”

I started skiing in 5th grade. I came to a small children's and youth school. At first she studied with Gennady Popkov, and then with Viktor Tkachenko.

You can just imagine a chain of little reed girls climbing up a narrow ski track to a hill under the pressure of an icy wind. Will any of them reach the Olympic pinnacle? I would like to, but only talented individuals achieve it. Loners, capable of super-hard work and, probably, having super-ambition. This is how Elena turned out.

She won her first individual gold medal in Italy at the 1987 Junior World Championships. And then the girl falls in love with the Estonian skier Urmas Vyalbe. Marry. She gives birth to her son France and returns to the ski slopes. Or rather, it flies there like lightning, which no one expected on the ski horizon.

The 1989 World Championships in Lahti brought together all the strongest skiers on the planet. The women's “company” was led by Olympic champions: Finns Matikainen and Kirvesniemi and ours Smetanina and Tikhonova. But no one could resist Elena in the 10 and 30 km freestyle races. She was 21 years old. At that moment, one of the old “luminaries” said: “She’s good, but she’ll get up soon.” But already at the next championship in Italy, Elena confirmed her winning class not only as a freestyle skier, but also won the 15 km race in the classical style. That’s when they started talking about Vyalba as a “Magadan nugget.”

It seemed that at the upcoming Olympics in Albertville-92 she would definitely take more than one “gold”... But fate decreed otherwise. She was destined to receive four bronze awards. True, there was a “golden” Russian relay race, where she ran the first stage. But the whole team worked there. “I still have a long way to go. This is just the beginning,” Lena said after the end of the Olympics. And, of course, everyone wanted to believe it.

Her second Olympics in Lillehammer 94 was even more unlucky. Two weeks before the start, she fell ill and was practically unable to compete on an equal footing. The only gold award went to her again in the relay race.

And 1995, as we know, was the year of triumph for her teammate Larisa Lazutina, who won most of the individual distances at the World Championships. Lena beat Larisa only in the 30 km race.

According to Vyalbe’s horoscope, Aries, and these are people who strive to be first and are ready to do anything for this, decides to change their personal trainer. Now Alexander Grushin led her to storm the next world peak. And she won all the gold medals at the 1997 championship. Five gold awards out of five possible!!! “Which finish was the hardest and easiest?” - the journalists asked. “The hardest part was the end of the pursuit. Only the photo finish gave me victory over the Italian Stefania Belmondo with an advantage of a few centimeters. The easiest part was the running at the final stage of the relay. The last 150 meters to the finish line she walked with our flag.” Yes, it was only her championship.

The King of Norway, presenting her with her fifth gold medal, said that Lena reminded him of the ancient Greek Nike, the messenger of the gods, a constant winner of sports competitions. In some ways he was right. Lena believes in both herself and God! For us and Russia, she will forever remain a true “Magadan nugget.”

And the path to the main team of the USSR national team is guaranteed. In 1987, she won awards at the World Junior Championships in Italy, including 2 gold medals. Since 1987, she began performing under the surname Vyalbe (she married the Estonian skier Urmas Vyalbe).

At the 1989/1990 World Cup, Vyalbe won two individual starts (she was also second once and third twice). In the general classification she took second place behind another Soviet skier Larisa Lazutina.

In the 1990/1991 season, Vyalbe won the second Grand Crystal Globe in her career, winning six individual races. The gap from Italian Stefania Belmondo, who took second place, was almost 100 points. At the World Championships in the Italian Val di Fiemme, Vyalbe won three gold medals (she won the relay and individual races in the 15 km classic and 10 km freestyle) and one silver medal, losing in the 30 km speed skate only to compatriot Lyubov Egorova.

In the 1991/1992 season, Vyalbe won four times in personal cup competitions and won the World Cup for the third time. For the first time she participated in the Olympic Games in Albertville, where she became the champion in the relay race (together with Smetanina, Lazutina and Egorova), and won four bronze medals in individual races.

In the 1992/1993 season, she lost the championship in the overall standings to Egorova. At the World Cup stages, they practically shared victories and podiums together. Individual positions on the podium (gold-silver-bronze) during the season for Vyalbe: 2-4-1 versus Egorova’s result: 4-2-1. At the World Championships in Falun, Sweden, Vyalbe won two golds - in the individual 15 km classic race and in the relay.

In the 1993/1994 season, Vyalbe experienced serious pressure from Lyubov Egorova and Italian skiers Stefania Belmondo and Manuela Di Centa. At the beginning of the season, she won two individual races, but due to illness at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, she won only one medal - gold as part of the relay four (with Lazutina, Gavrylyuk and Egorova). As two years earlier in Albertville, Elena Vyalbe started the relay in the first stage with the classics. In the final World Cup standings, she took third place, behind Italian Di Centa and Egorova.

She trained for almost a year under the leadership of Nikolai Zimyatov, but on the eve of the new season she returned to the national team with Alexander Grushin. At the 1994/1995 World Cup, she won the overall standings with a record margin. She won the World Cup 14 times (five times as part of the relay). Once at the World Cup stages, her compatriot Nina Gavrylyuk was able to overtake her. Only one cup race was won by non-Russians (the 10 km classic race at the stage in Lahti was won by the Norwegian Nybroten). At the World Championships in Thunder Bay, Canada, Vyalbe became a two-time champion, winning as part of the relay and the individual 30 km freestyle race. She also won silver in the 15 km classic. The 1994/1995 season became “golden” for the entire team of Russian skiers. The first five places in the World Cup standings were taken by Russians (Vyalbe, Gavrylyuk, Lazutina, Danilova, Zavyalova). At the World Championships in Thunder Bay, all gold medals in women's cross-country skiing were also won by Russians.

Vyalbe also spent the 1995/1996 season at a high level. She won four individual races and won three World Cup relay races. Di Centa had a strong second half of the season and won the second Grand Crystal Globe of her career. Vyalbe took second place.

At the 1997/1998 World Cup, Vyalbe won two stages (including as part of the relay). The last and at that time record 45th victory at the World Cup stages was won on December 20, 1997 in Davos, Switzerland, in the 15 km classic style race. At the Olympic Games in Nagano, she won her third Olympic gold in her career, again as part of the relay (together with Gavrylyuk, Danilova and Lazutina). Immediately after the Olympics, 30-year-old Vyalbe ended her career.

Elena Valerievna Vyalbe (nee Trubitsyna). Born on April 20, 1968 in Magadan. Soviet and Russian skier, three-time Olympic champion (1992, 1994, 1998), fourteen-time world champion, five-time World Cup winner. Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1989). Honored Master of Sports of the Russian Federation (1992). President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation (since 2010).

Father - Valery Ivanovich Trubitsyn, worked as a taxi driver, after retirement he went to his homeland in Novorossiysk.

Mother - Galina Grigorievna Synkova, was born in a camp - in the village of Taskan, Yagodninsky district of the Magadan region, where her parents were exiled during the years of repression. She received a medical education, but then worked for many years as the manager of a food warehouse.

I started skiing as soon as I learned to walk. At the age of 8 I started training seriously, although my mother was against it.

From the 5th grade until the age of 20, her coach was Viktor Maksimovich Tkachenko.

Her first victory came at the age of 14 at the Russian Championship, where she competed on behalf of the Trud Central Committee. Then Vyalbe won against skiers who were much older in age, taking 2nd place. She was awarded the title of Master of Sports of the USSR.

In 1987, she won awards at the World Junior Championships in Italy, including 2 gold medals. Since 1987, after marriage, she began performing under the name Vyalbe.

She made her debut at the adult World Cup in the 1986/1987 season at the stage in Finnish Lahti. Already in her first starts she won World Cup points, showing the results of the world's top ten - in individual races at the stages in Lahti and Falun she took 8th and 5th places, respectively. She finished her debut season in 23rd place in the overall standings.

In the same season, she won her first World Cup race as part of the Soviet relay team. On March 1, 1987, the quartet consisting of Antonina Ordina and Elena Vyalbe won the relay race at the World Cup in Lahti.

She missed the 1987/1988 season due to the birth of her son and was unable to participate in the Olympic Games in Calgary, where Soviet skiers won three gold medals in four races.

In the 1988/1989 season, 20-year-old Vyalbe won five stages at the World Cup and twice became third and won the Big Crystal Globe for the first time. Vyalbe won her first individual race at the World Cup in the Swiss town of Campra on December 14, 1988 (15 km freestyle race). During the season she won both sprint and stayer races. She was equally good at both the “skate” and the classical style.

In 1989, she made her debut at the World Championships in Lahti, Finland, where she became a two-time champion, winning the 10 km and 30 km freestyle races. She won silver in the relay race with the team (together with Smetanina, Shamshurina and Tikhonova).

At the 1989/1990 World Cup, Vyalbe won two individual starts (she was also second once and third twice). In the general classification she took second place after another Soviet skier Larisa Lazutina.

In the 1990/1991 season, Vyalbe won the second Grand Crystal Globe in her career, winning six individual races. The gap from Italian Stefania Belmondo, who took second place, was almost 100 points. At the World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Vyalbe won three gold medals (she won the relay and individual races in the 15 km classic and 10 km freestyle) and one silver medal, losing in the 30 km speed skate only to her compatriot Lyubov Egorova.

In the 1991/1992 season, Vyalbe won four times in personal cup competitions and won the World Cup for the third time.

In 1992, she participated in the Olympic Games for the first time in Albertville, where she became the champion in the relay race (together with Smetanina, Lazutina and Egorova), and won four bronze medals in individual races.

In the 1992/1993 season, she lost the championship in the overall standings to Egorova. At the World Cup stages, they practically shared victories and podiums together. Individual positions on the podium (gold-silver-bronze) during the season for Vyalbe: 2-4-1 versus Egorova’s result: 4-2-1. At the World Championships in Falun, Sweden, Vyalbe won two golds - in the individual 15 km classic race and in the relay.

In the 1993/1994 season, Vyalbe experienced serious pressure from Lyubov Egorova and Italian skiers Stefania Belmondo and Manuela Di Centa. At the beginning of the season, she won two individual races, but due to illness at the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, she won only one medal - gold as part of the relay four (with Lazutina, Gavrylyuk and Egorova). As two years earlier in Albertville, Elena Vyalbe started the relay in the first stage with the classics. In the final World Cup standings, she took third place, behind Italian Di Centa and Egorova.

She trained under the leadership of Nikolai Zimyatov for about a year, but on the eve of the new season she returned to the national team with Alexander Grushin.

At the 1994/1995 World Cup, she won the overall standings with a record margin. She won the World Cup 14 times (five times as part of the relay). Once at the World Cup stages, her compatriot Nina Gavrylyuk was able to overtake her. Only one cup race was won by non-Russians (the 10 km classic race at the stage in Lahti was won by the Norwegian Nybroten). At the World Championships in Thunder Bay, Canada, Vyalbe became a two-time champion, winning as part of the relay and the individual 30 km freestyle race. She also won silver in the 15 km classic. The 1994/1995 season became “golden” for the entire team of Russian skiers: the first five places in the World Cup standings were taken by Russians (Vyalbe, Gavrylyuk, Lazutina, Danilova, Zavyalova). At the World Championships in Thunder Bay, all gold medals in women's cross-country skiing were also won by Russians.

Vyalbe also spent the 1995/1996 season at a high level. She won four individual races and won three World Cup relay races. Di Centa had a strong second half of the season and won the second Grand Crystal Globe of her career. Vyalbe took second place.

At the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, Vyalbe set a record - winning all five races, becoming a 14-time champion based on the sum of all starts at the world championships. In the sprint classic 5 km race, Vyalbe showed the second result, and Lyubov Egorova took the lead. Three days later, Egorova was caught doping and disqualified, and the gold medal went to Vyalba. Particularly intense in terms of the intensity of the fight at this championship was the 10 km freestyle pursuit race (the race was part of the combined race: 5 km (classic) + 10 km (skate)), where only a photo finish determined Vyalbe’s victory in the fight against the Italian Belmondo. Also, for the fifth time at international competitions, Välbe managed to win the most difficult race in women's skiing - the 30 km marathon (in Trondheim it was held in the classical style).

At the World Cup stages, Elena Vyalbe won podiums in all individual races (she was first three times, second five times and third twice), and in the relay races the Russian team with her participation won four victories and took one second place. In the overall standings, Vyalbe won the World Cup for a record fifth time. Also, since the 1996/1997 season, separate awards began to be awarded to women in sprint and distance events. In distance events, Vyalbe won the Small Crystal Globe, and in the sprint she was second after Belmondo.

At the 1997/1998 World Cup, Vyalbe won two stages (including as part of the relay). The last and at that time record 45th victory at the World Cup stages was won on December 20, 1997 in Davos, Switzerland, in the 15 km classic style race.

Elena Vyalbe thoroughly prepared for the starts of the Olympics in Nagano in 1998, but she was hampered by a cold that happened on the eve of the main start. In addition, her body was exhausted after several years of hegemony in world sports and the 1997 season, and needed a special training approach and individual eyeliner, which did not happen. At the Olympic Games in Nagano, she won her third Olympic gold in her career, again as part of the relay (together with Gavrylyuk, Danilova and Lazutina).

Immediately after the 1998 Olympics, at the age of 30, Elena Vyalbe ended her career.

Multiple champion of the USSR and Russia.

Elena Vyalbe is one of the most titled skiers in Russia and the world, the owner of a number of outstanding achievements and records:

Five-time overall winner of the World Cup (record), seasons 1988/1989, 1990/1991, 1991/1992, 1994/1995, 1996/1997;

Fourteen-time world champion (only 20 years later, in 2017, this record was broken by Marit Bjørgen);

Absolute world champion 1997 in Trondheim (record) - won five gold medals out of five awarded;

Vyalbe won her first adult World Cup as a junior in 1989 (a record), at that time she was 20 years 10 months old;

In the 1994/1995 season, she won nine individual World Cup races (this record was broken by Bente Skari in the 2002/2003 season);

45 individual victories in a career at the World Cup stages (in 2011, this record achievement was surpassed by Marit Bjørgen);

Three-time Olympic champion (all gold medals - as part of relay teams at the 1992, 1994, 1998 Olympics);

At the Olympics in Albertville in 1992, she won medals of various denominations in all races (this achievement was also repeated by Russian skiers Lyubov Egorova and Larisa Lazutina);

At all world championships and Olympics where Vyalbe competed, she won at least one championship title;

For nine years in a row in the period 1989-1997, she was invariably in the top three in the final World Cup standings, and in all seasons of this period she won individual races and, based on the totality of results, was the strongest skier in the world.

In 1998, the name of Elena Vyalbe, together with Raisa Smetanina, was inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records as skiers who won the most medals at the Olympics and World Championships. Olympic champion and four-time world champion Finnish skier Mika Myllula considered Elena Vyalbe the greatest skier of all time.

Social and political activities of Elena Vyalbe

In 2004, she ran for president of the Russian Ski Racing Federation, but lost in terms of the number of votes to ROC Vice President Vladimir Loginov (in the second round of voting, 65 delegates voted for Loginov, 39 for Vyalbe). She accepted Vladimir Loginov’s offer to become the first vice-president of the FLGR and at the same time the head coach of the Russian national teams. However, in 2006, Vyalbe left the FLGR.

On June 17, 2010, Vyalbe became president of the FLGR. At the reporting and election Conference she received the most votes - 77. In May 2014, Vyalbe was re-elected for a second term on an uncontested basis. On May 25, 2018, she was re-elected for a third term as president of the FLGR on an uncontested basis.

Elena Vyalbe graduated from the Plekhanov Academy of National Economy.

He is an adviser to the governor of the Moscow region on organizational issues. In the government, she deals with the support and development of children's sports, the fight against the use of doping in sports, and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. President of the Moscow regional club “Business Woman of the Moscow Region”.

Member of the political council of the United Russia party in the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the regional branch.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Women's Hockey Club "Tornado" (Moscow Region).

In honor of Elena Vyalbe, the Vyalbe Ski Track race is held, which has become federal. The Magadan Sports School is named after the champion. A woman helps an educational institution with sportswear and equipment.

Elena Valerievna lives in her own house in the Istra district of the Moscow region.

Elena Vyalbe's height: 164 centimeters.

Personal life of Elena Vyalbe:

She was married twice.

The first husband is Urmas Vyalbe, an Estonian skier, participant in the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Games. They got married in 1987.

In 1987, the couple had a son, France.

A year after the birth of their son, the couple separated, but with the permission of Urmas Vyalbe’s family, she kept her last name.

Son France gave her a granddaughter.

Second husband - Maxim, a businessman.

Sports achievements of Elena Vyalbe:

Olympic Games:

Gold - Albertville 1992 - 4x5 km relay
Bronze - Albertville 1992 - 5 km classic
Bronze - Albertville 1992 - 10 km pursuit
Bronze - Albertville 1992 - 15 km classic
Bronze - Albertville 1992 - 30 km
Gold - Lillehammer 1994 - 4x5 km relay
Gold - Nagano 1998 4x5 km relay

World Championships:

Gold - Lahti 1989 - 10 km
Gold - Lahti 1989 - 30 km
Silver - Lahti 1989 - 4x5 km relay
Gold - Val di Fiemme 1991 - 4x5 km relay
Gold - Val di Fiemme 1991 - 10 km
Gold - Val di Fiemme 1991 - 15 km classic
Silver - Val di Fiemme 1991 - 30 km
Gold - Falun 1993 - 15 km classic
Gold - Falun 1993 - 4x5 km relay
Gold - Thunder Bay 1995 - 30 km
Gold - Thunder Bay 1995 - 4x5 km relay
Silver - Thunder Bay 1995 - 15 km classic
Gold - Trondheim 1997 - 5 km classic
Gold - Trondheim 1997 - 10 km pursuit
Gold - Trondheim 1997 - 15 km
Gold - Trondheim 1997 - 30 km classic
Gold - Trondheim 1997 - 4x5 km relay

Awards and titles of Elena Vyalbe:

Title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Magadan” dated May 17, 1989;
- Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1989);
- Honored Master of Sports of Russia (1992);
- Holmenkollen Medal (1992);
- Order of Friendship of Peoples (April 22, 1994) - “for high sporting achievements at the XVII Winter Olympic Games of 1994”;
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (April 16, 1997) - “for services to the state and outstanding sporting achievements”;
- Badge of honor “For merits in the development of physical culture and sports” (1997);
- Medal of the Order “For Merit to the Fatherland”, 1st degree (March 24, 2014);
- Order of Merit for Khakassia (July 25, 2017);
- Order of Friendship "Duslyk" of the Republic of Tatarstan (April 21, 2018);
- Order of Honor (June 29, 2018)