Elena Vialbe: biography, personal life, photo Vyalbe Elena Valeryevna

Her name has always entered the history of Russian sports. She won three times in the Olympic Games, and many people can envy the regalia and rewards of this strong-willed and purposeful woman. Who is she? The famous skier Elena Vyalbe, who is considered the best of the best in her profession. She was able to achieve a dizzying career success, and her name was forever inscribed on the pages of the Guinness Book of Records. Thanks to her perseverance, diligence, dedication and will to win, Elena Vyalbe was able to win many awards in the sport of skiing. Was the path of the future Olympic champion to the top of Olympus easy? Of course not.

Facts from biography

Vyalba Elena Valerievna - a native of the city of Magadan. The athlete was born on April 20, 1968. Already from a young age the girl began to show an increased interest in cross-country skiing.

She watched with undisguised admiration as adult uncles and aunts make their way along the snow-covered highway that ran near the house where the girl lived. When she was eight years old, she enrolled in the section of the children's and youth school to comprehend the basics of this popular sport. Mentors of the future Olympic champion were Gennady Popkov and Viktor Tkachenko. They did everything possible to Elena Vialbe, whose biography says that her life was the best, became a great athlete. They turned it into a "magadan nugget" - the whole country then called the triple Olympic champion.

What is he - the taste of victory?

Already at the age of eleven Elena Vialbe became a member of the sports team of the Magadan Region in cross-country skiing. Three years later, the girl will be awarded the title of Master of Sports, and the way to the main part of the adult national team of the USSR it is provided.

But the first victory in ski races Vyalba Elena Valerievna, whose biography is solid sport achievements, won at an early age when she took part in the championship of the Central Council of DSO Trud. And despite the fact that the girl's rivals were older than her, she was able to win the second place. Even then it became clear which terms help Elena achieve high results in sports: she gave herself to the future profession for one hundred percent and worked on herself 24 hours a day.

First place

The real triumph was the participation of a girl from Magadan in the junior championship in 1987, which was held in Italy. On it Vyalbe Elena Valerievna receives her first gold medal. After a little time the young sportswoman arranges her personal life, becoming the wife of a skier from Estonia - Urmas Vialbe.

Soon she gives birth to her son and after a break she again returns to the profession.

New Heights

In 1989, the world championship was held in Lahti, and our country was represented by the highest level of athletes: Tikhonov and Smetanin. Serious competition for Soviet girls was made by the Finns - Kiervesniemi and Matikainen. However, no one could become a worthy rival of Elena Vyalba, who demonstrated "aerobatics" at 10 and 30 kilometers freestyle. After that, some experts predicted that the peak of the sports career of the "Magadan nugget" will go down. And the girl proved the error of this point of view, brilliantly performing at the next championship in Italy: she not only became the best in freestyle, but also won first place in the race at a distance of 15 kilometers with classical style. So Elena Vialbe, photo of which often began to decorate the strip of sports newspapers, became the property and pride of our country.

"Instead of gold, bronze"

In 1992, the Olympics started in the French Albertville.

Our fans were full of hope that the first place will necessarily be submitted to a skier from Magadan. But fate made its own corrections ... Instead of the first place, she won the third place four times. However, "the sweetening of the bitterness of the pill" was able to the fact that in the team competition the girl managed to demonstrate high results, and the "golden" Russian relay race did take place. Anyway, but not quite successful performance did not upset the skier. "I still have many victories ahead of me. I am full of strength and energy "- said Vialbe.

However, the subsequent Olympics in Lillehammer was also not very successful for the sportswoman. A few weeks before the start of the competition, she felt a serious malaise, so she could not fight on equal terms. Then only participation in the relay brought our team gold.

And again the triumph

Yes, unsuccessful performances at the international championships did not undermine the morale of the Magadan sportswoman, but she understood that it was necessary to analyze the situation and, possibly, make adjustments to the work. Elena decided to change the tutor, having chosen Alexander Grushin as one.

And this innovation has yielded positive results. The 1997 Championship turned out to be just enchanting in Elena Valeryevna's sports career. She won as many as five gold medals, leaving no chance for her rivals. Again the journalists began to say that the best skier is Elena Vialbe. The winner's photo began to appear on the front pages of sports newspapers and magazines.

"Which stage was the most difficult and most sparing?" - asked the "sharks pen." The skier answered: "The most difficult was the finish in the pursuit race. Only with the help of special photographic equipment was it possible to determine the winner between me and the Italian Stefania Belmondo, with whom we walked "one-on-one". And yet I managed to win. If we talk about the easiest distance in the race, then it is a segment of the road at the finish stage of the relay race. The final 150 meters to the finish line were victorious for our team. "

The Norwegian king, congratulating Vialba with the fifth gold medal, noted that Elena is very similar to the ancient Greek goddess of victory. To a certain extent his words turned out to be prophetic.

Olympiad in Nogano

In 1998 Elena Vyalbe took part in the Olympics, which started in the Japanese Nogano. Then the Russians managed to take the first place in the relay race 4x5 kilometers in a stubborn struggle. In the first and second segments of the competition, our skiers competed with Norwegian sportswomen.

At the third stage, Elena Välbe picked up the baton, and later handed it over to Larisa Lazutkina, breaking away from her rivals for 23 seconds. With this performance the sportswoman from Magadan finished her career.

Regalia and awards

During the years of hard work Elena V. Vialbe received the highest awards and regalia. She is not only an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, but also of Russia. She was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, the Order of Merit for the State and Outstanding Sports Achievements, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland of the III degree, the Order "For High Sports Achievement at the 17th Winter Olympic Games in 1994". In addition, the Magadan skier was awarded an honorary badge "For the development of physical culture and sports".

Since 2010, she is president of the Federation of Cross Country Skiing.

Outside the profession

Elena Vyalbe, whose personal life was 100% successful, now lives in the Moscow region (Istra district). She is surrounded by the closest and most dear to her people: husband Maxim, son Franz, daughter Polina and mother. Elena is very interested in the fate of her children, and she adheres to strict rules in the upbringing of their children.