Elena Ivanova (russian: Елена Иванова; born 8 November 1979) is a Russian former competitive figure skater. She is the 1995

Finlandia Trophy The Finlandia Trophy is a senior-level international figure skating competition. Since 1995, it is held annually in Finland in Greater Helsinki region, including Helsinki, Vantaa, and Espoo. It became part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014 ...

champion, 1998 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist, and 1996 World Junior champion.

Life and career

Ivanova was born in

Nevinnomyssk Nevinnomyssk (russian: Невинномы́сск) is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on both banks of the Kuban River at its confluence with the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River, south of Stavropol. The only single-industry town in Stavropo ...

. When she was six years old, figure skating coach Nina Ruchkina visited her kindergarten in search of talented youth and noticed her. Ivanova's parents approved of the activity and she began skating under Ruchkina. At the age of 10, she became

Master of Sports of the USSR Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR (russian: Единая Всесоюзная спортивная классификация) is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for both athletes an ...

and gained the nickname " Iron Felix" because of her calmness on the ice. At the age of 15, she moved from

to Samara and graduated from Samara's GUOR (figure skating faculty). Ivanova represented Russia at four World Junior Championships, winning silver in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

(

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary), gold in 1996 (

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, Australia), bronze in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

(

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, South Korea), and silver in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

(

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of K ...

, Canada). She finished sixth in her Champions Series (Grand Prix) debut, at the 1997 Trophée Lalique. She retired from competition due to injury and became a skating coach in

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

. Around 2005, she relocated to Daugavpils, Latvia.

Results

''GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanova, Elena Russian female single skaters Living people 1979 births World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists People from Nevinnomyssk Russian expatriates in Latvia Sportspeople from Stavropol Krai