Valentyna Oleksandrivna Semerenko ( uk, Валентина Олександрівна Семеренко), known also as Valya Semerenko () and featuring in statistics as Valj Semerenko (born 18 January 1986) is a Ukrainian biathlete. She is

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and World champion, multiple World championships medalist, and one of the most successful Ukrainian winter athletes.

Career

When she was in the fourth grade of elementary school, she took up

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

together with her twin sister

Vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vit ...

. But later, they decided to switch to biathlon. She began competing internationally a year earlier than Vita. In 2004 she took part at Junior World Championships in

Maurienne Maurienne ( frp, Môrièna) is one of the provinces of France, provinces of Savoy, corresponding to the arrondissement of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. It is also the original name of the capital of the province, now Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. ...

, France. In 2005 she won two medals at Junior World and one at Junior European Championships. On 17 December 2005, she debuted in Biathlon World Cup. She finished her first World Cup sprint competition in

Osrblie Osrblie ( hu, Cserpatak) is a village and municipality in Brezno District, in the Banská Bystrica Region of central Slovakia. The village is best known for biathlon races, with Biathlon World Cup events taking place since the mid-1990s and with on ...

, Slovakia, ranking 47th. Valja managed to qualify for

2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially the XX Olympic Winter Games ( it, XX Giochi olimpici invernali) and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February 2006 in Turin, Italy. This marked the second t ...

, where she took part only in individual race, finishing 46th. For the first time, she participated at the World Championships in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy. Valja missed almost half of the 2006-07 Biathlon World Cup. The next season was more successful. She won the silver medal in the 4×6 km relay event at the

Biathlon World Championships 2008 The 42nd Biathlon World Championships were held in Östersund, Sweden from 8 to 17 February 2008. It was the second time Östersund was hosting the Biathlon World Championships, the first being in 1970. It was also 50 years after the first Bia ...

. First World Cup relay victory came on 7 January 2009, in Oberhof, Germany. She represented Ukraine at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In all races she placed between 13 and 23. First individual podium Valja celebrated on 4 February 2011, in Presque Isle, United States, in sprint. At the 2013 World Championships, Valja won bronze in

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...

race and silver in relay. On 15 December 2013, Valja won a pursuit race in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

, France, which was her first individual World Cup victory. Stamp of Ukraine s1368

Together with

Juliya Dzhyma Yuliia Dzhima ( uk, Юлія Валентинівна Джима; born 19 September 1990) is a Ukrainian World Cup level biathlete. She is Olympic champion in women's relay, multiple World championships medalist. She is one of the most successful ...

Vita Semerenko Vita Semerenko ( uk, Віта Олександрівна Семеренко; born 18 January 1986) is a Ukrainian biathlete. She is Olympic champion in women's relay, Olympic medalist and multiple World championships medalist. She is one of the ...

and

Olena Pidhrushna Olena Bilosiuk, née Olena Pidhrushna ( uk, Олена Михайлівна Підгрушна, Olena Myxajlivna Pidhrušna; born 9 January 1987) is a Ukrainian biathlete. She is Olympic and World champion and multiple medalist in different high- ...

she won the gold medal in the Women's relay at the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

, in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, Russia. 2014–15 season was the most successful as of January 2018. That season she had four individual podiums and finished third in World Cup classification, being the second-ever Ukrainian biathlete to finish a season in Top-3 after

Olena Zubrilova Olena Zubrilova ( uk, Олена Миколаївна Зубрилова, be, Алена Зубрылава ''Alena Zubrylava'', russian: Елена Николаевна Зубрилова; born 25 February 1973 in Shostka ...

. After Christmas, Valja together with

Serhiy Semenov Serhiy Oleksandrovych Semenov ( uk, Сергій Олександрович Семенов; born 28 July 1988 in Chernihiv, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian biathlete. He is first Ukrainian male biathlete to win a World Cup title in a single discipl ...

, she won

World Team Challenge The World Team Challenge is an international biathlon competition, which has been held every year between Christmas and New Year since 2002 in Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen. Previously a similar competition was held at the same time of year in Ruh ...

. The most memorable achievement was victory in mass start at 2015 World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. The next two seasons weren't very successful due to illnesses and weak physical conditions. Valja was forced to miss a lot of races. She qualified to represent Ukraine at the

2018 Winter Olympics , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...

. Her best personal result at the Games was 19th place in the mass start. She expected to run in the women's relay but wasn't included in the roster. Later she accused coaches of ignoring her results and including not so successful at the Games

Iryna Varvynets Iryna Petrenko, née Iryna Varvynets (Ukrainian: Ірина Варвинець; born 4 July 1992, in Mokhnatyn, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian Biathlon, biathlete. She is Biathlon World Championships, World Championships medalist. She ...

and

Anastasiya Merkushyna Anastasiya Merkushyna (Ukrainian: Анастасія Олегівна Меркушина; born 14 January 1995) is a Ukrainian Biathlon, biathlete. She is Biathlon World Championships, World Championships medalist. She participated at 2018 Winter ...

in the relay team. Her sister

later told in an interview that Valja cried for hours after discovering that she wouldn't participate in the relay. In the evening before the competition, Valja posted on Facebook that "we don't have any team", "our team is just ***" and so on, and that she has something more to unveil about the team. Next day she said that she may finish her sport career immediately after the Games. Nevertheless she competed in World Cup after the Games.

Personal life

Biathlete

is her twin sister. Valja is married to Oleksiy Prokhor. She graduated from Sumy State Pedagogical Makarenko University.

Results

Winter Olympics

World Championships

World Cup

Individual podiums

Relay podiums

Positions

* Position (and scores) are shown in the table.

References

External links

*
Biathlon.com.ua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semerenko, Valya 1986 births Living people Ukrainian female biathletes Olympic biathletes for Ukraine Biathletes at the 2006 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics Ukrainian twins Twin sportspeople Biathlon World Championships medalists Medalists at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Ukraine Olympic medalists in biathlon Dynamo Sports Club sportspeople Universiade medalists in biathlon Universiade silver medalists for Ukraine Competitors at the 2007 Winter Universiade Laureates of the Prize of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for special achievements of youth in the development of Ukraine Sportspeople from Sumy Oblast