Elena Allen (née Bogdanova; born 12 July 1972) is a British

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such a ...

. She represented Wales in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

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, winning the silver medal, having previously won bronze for England at the 2006 Games. She competed for Team GB at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and has been chosen once more to compete at the 2016 Games.

Early life

Elena Bogdanova was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, Russia—then in the

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—on 12 July 1972. Her mother was Tatiana Bogdanova, who competed for the Soviet Union in shooting at European and World Championships, but did not compete at the Olympics. Elena has two sisters, Natasha and Maria, who are also shooters. She competed in the Soviet junior championships at the age of 18, placing third overall. In 1992, she moved to the United Kingdom where she married English international shooter Chris Little. She was later remarried to another fellow shooter Malcolm Allen. She attended the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

, where she earned a degree in modern languages.

Shooting career

Allen won the bronze medal at the

2002 ISSF World Shooting Championships The 48th ISSF World Shooting Championships were held in Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economi ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. In 2005, she set a world record for shooting which stood for seven years. She also won the gold medal at the World Cup event in

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, and a silver medal at the

European Shooting Championships The European Shooting Championships are the global sport shooting European championships as regards the disciplines of the sport shooting of the rifle (25, 50 and 300 m) and the pistol (25 and 50 m). Sometimes the competition also includes trap sho ...

. Allen shot for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

, winning the bronze medal in the Women's skeet shooting competition. Competing for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, China, she placed in 13th position overall. She won two bronze medals at World Cup events in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England, and in Italy in 2010. In 2010 at the Commonwealth Championships held in New Delhi, she won Gold in the women's skeet event alongside her husband Malcolm Allen who also won Gold in the men's skeet event, the only time that a husband/wife had taken both titles. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, she competed in the

skeet Skeet may refer to: * Skeet shooting, a discipline of competitive clay pigeon shooting ** ISSF Olympic skeet, a variant used at the Olympic Games People * Skeet Childress (born 1979), American guitar player in the band Look What I Did * Skeet Q ...

event. Following three qualifying rounds, she finished in 13th place. She felt that the pressure of the home crowd did not help, being unfamiliar with enthusiastic crowds. She hoped that the experience would help her in the pursuit of medals at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. In the

2013 World Shotgun Championships The 2013 World Shotgun Championships were held in September 2013 in Lima, Peru. As in all odd-numbered years, separate ISSF World Shooting Championships were carried out in the Olympic trap, trap, Double Trap and Olympic skeet, skeet events. Compet ...

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she received a bronze medal in the individual skeet competition. In the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in Glasgow, Allen took silver in the women's skeet. She had switched her allegiance to the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

team after qualifying for them through residency. At the World Championships during the same year, Allen placed second in the individual skeet event at the World Championships, being defeated to the gold medal by Brandy Drozd and a single target. This placing gave Great Britain a further place in the competition for the

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The combined scores of Allen 73,

Amber Hill Amber Hill is a village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, approximately west-north-west from Boston. The 2001 Census measured its population at 268, increasing to 294 at the 2011 census. History and governance The name Amber Hill rep ...

72 and

Sarah Gray Sarah Gray (born 28 October 1990, Cambridge, New Zealand) is a New Zealand rower. Under national coach Dick Tonks, Gray was placed in a women's quadruple scull with Fiona Bourke, Eve MacFarlane, and Louise Trappitt. They surprised themselves ...

68 won the team the overall gold medal in the competition. Following that tournament, she was selected as part of the British team at the 2016 Olympics. At the Rio Olympics, she finished in 13th position following a breakdown in equipment. Allen has been a member of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) athletes committee since 2017 and has been chairperson of the European Shooting Confederation (ESC) athletes committee since 2016 Her training regime includes walking, running and hill climbing.

Personal life

She was originally married to Chris Little before her subsequent marriage to Malcolm Allen, who also acts as her coach. She lives in Abercarn, Caerphilly, Wales.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Elena 1972 births Living people British female sport shooters Olympic shooters for Great Britain Shooters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Wales Shooters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games European Games competitors for Great Britain Shooters at the 2015 European Games Sport shooters from Moscow British people of Russian descent Welsh people of Russian descent Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England English female sport shooters Welsh female sport shooters Shooters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting Shooters at the 2019 European Games Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games 20th-century British sportswomen 21st-century British sportswomen