Elena Ivanova (russian: Елена Иванова; born 8 November 1979) is a Russian former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. She is the 1995 Finlandia Trophy champion, 1998 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist, and 1996 World Junior champion.

Life and career

Ivanova was born in Nevinnomyssk. 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 and gained the nickname " Iron Felix" because of her calmness on the ice. At the age of 15, she moved from Nevinnomyssk to

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

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 O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

(

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 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

(

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, 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 t ...

(

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 ...

, 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 ...

(

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 Ki ...

, Canada). She finished sixth in her Champions Series (Grand Prix) debut, at the

1997 Trophée Lalique The 1997 Trophée Lalique was the fourth event of six in the 1997–98 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris on November 13–16. Medals we ...

. She retired from competition due to injury and became a skating coach in Vitebsk,

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 R ...

. Around 2005, she relocated to

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

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