Kristina Šmigun-Vähi (born 23 February 1977) is a former

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n female cross-country skier and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She is the most successful Estonian female cross-country skier with two Olympic gold medals. In 2019 she was elected as a Member of the Estonian Parliament.

Career

On 12 February 2006, she won the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

for the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit, becoming the first Estonian woman to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. Four days later, she won a second gold medal in the 10 km classical. On 15 February 2010, she won her third

Olympic medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

, a silver in the 10 km freestyle race. With two golds and one silver, Šmigun-Vähi is the most successful Estonian athlete in Olympic history (summer or winter), tying the record of men's cross-country skier Andrus Veerpalu. Šmigun-Vähi has also found success at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, earning six medals. This included one gold (2003: 5 km + 5 km double pursuit), three silvers (1999: 15 km, 2003: 10 km, 15 km), and two bronzes (1999, 2003: both in 30 km). On 2 July 2010, Šmigun-Vähi announced that she will quit her professional sport career to focus on her family and her daughter Victoria-Kris. On 24 October 2016, the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

Athletes' Commission stated that Šmigun-Vähi faced a

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

hearing before the end of October.

Personal life

She is the daughter of former cross-country skiers Rutt and Anatoli Šmigun. Her sister Katrin Šmigun and cousin Aivar Rehemaa were also cross-country skiers. Šmigun-Vähi is married to her long-time manager Kristjan-Thor Vähi, She missed the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons due to pregnancy. She has two children, daughter born in 2008 and son born in 2011.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Olympic Games

* 3 medals – (2 gold, 1 silver)

World Championships

* 6 medals – (1 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) :a. Cancelled due to extremely cold weather.

World Cup

Season titles

* 2 titles – (1 long distance, 1 middle distance)

Season standings

Individual podiums

*16 victories – (16 ) *50 podiums – (49 , 1 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Overall record

:a. Classification is made according to FIS classification. :b. Includes individual and mass start races. :c. Includes pursuit and double pursuit races. :d. May be incomplete due to lack of appropriate sources for some relay races prior to 1995/96 World Cup season. Note: Until 1999 World Championships and 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were part of the World Cup. Hence results from those races are included in the World Cup overall record.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smigun-Vahi, Kristina 1977 births 21st-century Estonian women politicians Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2002 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 2010 Winter Olympics Estonian female cross-country skiers Estonian Reform Party politicians Estonian sportsperson-politicians FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Living people Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 Olympic cross-country skiers for Estonia Olympic gold medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing Olympic silver medalists for Estonia Politicians from Tartu Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class Skiers from Tartu Women members of the Riigikogu