Svetlana Ishmouratova
Encyclopedia
Svetlana Irekovna Ishmouratova (born 20 April 1972) is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n biathlete
Biathlon
Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...

. She lives in Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...

 and is a soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

 by profession.

Ishmouratova won the gold in the women's 15 km individual contest at the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

.

Biography

Svetlana Irekovna Ishmouratova was born in Zlatoust
Zlatoust
Zlatoust is a city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ay River , west of Chelyabinsk. Population: 181,000 ; 161,000 ; 99,000 ; 48,000 ; 21,000 ....

 (Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...

 region) . Her father Irek Ishmouratov, master in cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

, became her first coach. She started learning to ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...

 when she was five and got her first medal when she was in the fourth form of a sports college. Svetlana did well at school though she didn’t like studying very much. At first, she didn’t think about career in sport and even planned to study medicine after school. But then she decided not to leave her home town, to keep studying and training there. Svetlana graduated Trade Secondary School of Zlatoust first and then State Academy of Physical Education.

In 1991 Ishmouratova became the USSR junior champion in individual race and the champion in senior team race. By the mid 90s she became a strong skilled athlete and entered the national Russian team, showing stable and good results in all kinds of competitions. But in 1996 she was mistakenly accused of doping
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...

 and so was disqualified for two years (later the official apologies followed). That was the end of her skiing career.

But in autumn of 1996 Valentin Zadonski, a coach from Moscow, offered Svetlana to train with his women biathlon team. And in a year Svetlana became the champion of Russia and got a few medals in World Cup races. Despite her brilliant results, she was included in the National Olympic team only after some successful races in Italy not long before the Olympic Games in Nagano
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

. Unfortunately, Svetlana got ill and didn’t take part in the Winter Games of 1998. But in 2002 in Salt Lake City
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

 she became a bronze medalist in the relay. Besides, she has six World Champion titles (in summer and winter biathlon) and a lot of World Cup medals. Svetlana has been showing stable results for the last five years, reaching high positions in World Cup Total standings (10, 7, 11, 11, 12 places). Svetlana’s coaches are V. Zadonski and A. Brylov. They say she is a kind and considerate person, a nice young lady with great will power and a strong character.

She doesn’t like to speak about sports in her interviews. She speaks German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 and likes reading books during her leisure time. Her dream is to have a good loving family and children. She will probably work as a coach after finishing her sporting career. Her height is 165 cm and her weight is 57 kg.

See also

  • Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics
    Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics
    Russia participated at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. It sent a total of 190 athletes to participate in all 15 of the Winter Olympic sports. Russia was a key part of the Soviet Union when it won the highest number of gold medals for the 1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1988 Winter...

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