Yelena Välbe
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Yelena Valeryevna Välbe (, née ''Trubitsyna''; born 20 April 1968) is a Russian former cross-country skier. She won a record 14 gold medals (5 in relays) at the FIS World Championships, including all five golds in the 1997 edition. She also won three Olympic gold medals (all in relays) and four bronze medals in various
Winter Olympic Games 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 in ...
as well as four
World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
Crystal Globes. In 2004, she lost when she ran for president of the Russian Ski Racing Federation. Välbe was later elected President of the Russian Cross-Country Ski Association and has been in that position since 2010, and manager of the Russian National Cross-Country Team since 2012. She was elected to the FIS Council in 2021. But after she supported the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
in 2022, a number of European Ski Federations objected to her participation in the 2022 election, and Välbe's nomination was publicly opposed by the representatives of Sweden, Poland, and Finland. As a result, she was removed from the FIS Council after garnering the fewest votes of 23 candidates. In 2022, Välbe supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying that: "we are not at war with Ukraine and no one attacked it."


Career


Summary

At the
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial Nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship eve ...
, Välbe won fourteen gold (1989: 10 km freestyle, 30 km; 1991: 10 km, 15 km, 4 × 5 km relay; 1993: 15 km, 4 × 5 km relay; 1995: 30 km, 4 × 5 km relay), and three silver medals (1989: 4 × 5 km relay, 1991: 30 km, 1995: 15 km), including all five golds at the 1997 championships in
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
(5 km, 5 km + 10 km combined pursuit, 15 km, 30 km, and 4 × 5 km relay). She also won three gold (all in relays) and four bronze medals in various
Winter Olympic Games 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 in ...
as well as the
FIS Cross-Country World Cup The FIS Cross-Country World Cup is an annual cross-country skiing competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1981. The competition was arranged unofficially between 1973 and 1981, although it received provisional recogn ...
five times (1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997). At the 1992 Winter Olympics, she entered in every competition in cross-country skiing and medaled in all of them.


After retirement

In 2004, she lost when she ran for president of the Russian Ski Racing Federation. In 2010, Välbe was elected as President of the Russian Cross-Country Ski Association. In 2012, she got the position of manager for the Russian Cross-Country Team towards the
2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...
in Sochi. She was also manager for the Russian team during the
2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics (), officially the XX Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Torino 2006, were a winter multi-sport event held from 10 to 26 February in Turin, Italy. This marked the second time Italy had hosted the Winter O ...
in
Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
. Välbe was elected to the FIS Council in 2021, but after she supported the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
in 2022, a number of European Ski Federations objected to her participation in the 2022 election, and Välbe's nomination was publicly opposed by the representatives of Sweden, Poland, and Finland. As a result, she was removed from the position after garnering the fewest votes of all 23 candidates.


Political career

Välbe was a member of the political council of
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
's
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
party in the State Duma from the regional branch, and ran in the
2021 Russian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Russia from 17 to 19 September 2021. At stake were 450 seats in the 8th State Duma, 8th convocation of the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly. Going into the election ...
on the United Russia party list. She won in the United Russia
primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...
and was leader of United Russia's territorial group No. 29, which included the Vladimir and
Ivanovo Oblast Ivanovo Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It had a population of 927,828 as of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Russian Census. Its three largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, cities are Ivanovo (the administrat ...
s. Having won the elections, she refused to be a deputy, and the
Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
transferred her mandate to Aleksey Govyrin. She eventually withdrew her candidacy. In 2023, Välbe joined the PutinTeam, whose members supported
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
's nomination for the
2024 Russian presidential election Russian presidential elections, Presidential elections were held in Russia from 15 to 17 March 2024. It was the eighth presidential election in the country. The incumbent president Vladimir Putin won with 88% of the vote, the highest percentage ...
.


Views

In 2022, Välbe supported the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, saying that "we are not at war with Ukraine and no one attacked it." In January 2023, sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt of
Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...
(NRK) said that he believes Välbe must now be fired from all sport-related offices going forward. He said: "It is completely reprehensible that a cross-country president makes such statements upporting the invasion of Ukraine Now she is choosing a confrontational line that either shows her internal position is weakened, or she is confident that Russia will be brought back faster than many thought." In March 2023, Välbe said the following about European politics and the United States. In November 2023, she said she supported Putin's policies and Russia's war against Ukraine, and was proud that her younger brother had volunteered to fight in the war. In December 2023, she said of Putin: "I love our president madly." In September 2024, she said that ‘if Russia dropped a bomb in London, Russians would be allowed to attend the Olympics’.


Personal life

Välbe is estranged from her father, Valery Ivanovich Trubitsyn. Her father is Ukrainian-born, and lives in Ukraine. Explaining her character, she said that as a child, she and her mother Galina Grigorievna Synkova lived with her maternal grandparents. Her maternal grandfather told her: "Don't wait to be hit, hit you in the face first." Formerly she was married to
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 cross-country skier
Urmas Välbe Urmas Välbe (born 8 November 1966 in Antsla) 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 Se ...
. Together they had one child the same year they married, Franz, with whom she spent a month and a half in Ukraine in 1988. They separated the year after they married, and divorced in 2005. She later gave birth to Polina and Varvara, and since her divorce moved to and now lives in the Istra district in
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...
.


Cross-country skiing results

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


Olympic Games

* 7 medals – (3 gold, 4 bronze)


World Championships

* 17 medals – (14 gold, 3 silver)


World Cup


Season standings


Individual podiums

*45 victories *81 podiums


Team podiums

* 24 victories – (24 ) * 32 podiums – (30 , 2 ) Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.


In popular culture

*'' White Snow'' – a biographical sports drama film about Välbe.


References


External links

* * – click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file * – click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file {{DEFAULTSORT:Välbe, Yelena 1968 births Living people 20th-century Russian sportswomen 21st-century Russian sportswomen People from Magadan Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1998 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Russian female cross-country skiers Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic bronze medalists for the Unified Team Olympic gold medalists for Russia Olympic cross-country skiers for Russia Olympic cross-country skiers for the Unified Team Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Cross-Country World Cup champions Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Sportspeople from Magadan Oblast United Russia politicians