Svetlana Sleptsova
Encyclopedia
Svetlana Yuryevna Sleptsova in Khanty Mansiysk 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. She is a member of the club CSKA (Central Sports Club Of The Army). She is a three-time Junior World Champion and won the bronze medal in the mixed relay at the 2008 World Championships in Östersund
Biathlon World Championships 2008
The 42nd Biathlon World Championships were held in Östersund in Jämtland in central Sweden from February 8 to February 17, 2008. It was the second time Östersund was hosting the Biathlon World Championships, the first being in 1970...

. In 2009 she was part of the Gold medal winning Russian women's relay team at the World Championships in Pyeongchang
Biathlon World Championships 2009
The 43rd Biathlon World Championships were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from February 13 to February 22, 2009. It was the first time that the Biathlon World Championships were held in Asia ....

. Sleptsova is an Olympic Champion in relay at the Vancouver

Svetlana Sleptsova was born in a sports family. At the age of ten, she started regular biathlon classes, when biathlon coach Alexander Korchak came to her school and invited her to engage in biathlon. In a chat of 17 January 2008 at Rasen-Antholz
Rasen-Antholz
Rasen-Antholz is a municipality in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 110 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 60 km northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria.-Geography:...

, Sleptsova recalls: "I started doing biathlon in third grade. There was nothing else but biathlon in Khanty-Mansiysk
Khanty-Mansiysk
Khanty-Mansiysk experiences a subarctic climate . The climate is extreme, with temperatures as low as -49 C° and as high as 34.5 C°. On average, however, the region is very cold, with an average tempurature of -1.1 C°...

 at that time. There was no alternative." Initially, the young athletes were shooting with air rifles, and the biathlon exercises were combined with ballet dancing, boxing, and karate.

Sleptsova achieved her first success in 2001, when she won the A. Strepetova prize at the Russian Youth Championships. In 2005, under the direction of Mikhail Novikov, she won the individual competition at the Youth World Championships in Kontiolahti
Kontiolahti
Kontiolahti is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

 (Finland), 1:15 minutes ahead of Vita Semerenko
Vita Semerenko
Viktoria Oleksandrivna Semerenko , known also as Vita Semerenko is a Ukrainian biathlete. She represented Ukraine at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. She won the silver medal in 4×6 km relay event at the Biathlon World Championships 2008.Biathlete Valentina is her twin sister.-References:...

. A few months later, she suffered a severe loss - the death of her father.

Growing into the juniors' age group, Sleptsova became a member of the Yugra
Yugra
Yugra was the name of the lands between the Pechora River and Northern Urals in the Russian annals of the 12th–17th centuries, as well as the name of the Khanty and partly Mansi tribes inhabiting these territories, later known as VogulsThe Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia is also...

 team of head coach Valery Zakharov. After two years, thanks to hard training under the sensitive guidance of an experienced coach, she advanced to one of the world's best junior athletes, and did her World Cup debut at Pokljuka
Pokljuka
Pokljuka is a foresty plateau at the altitude of around 1300 metres, situated partly in the municipality of Bled and partly in municipality of Bohinj in northwestern Slovenia. It is part of Triglav national park...

 in 2007. According to Sleptsova, this experience helped her to be better prepared for the Junior World Championships, and so she achieved two victories at Martell - in the sprint and pursuit competitions, respectively. The successful season for this young athlete was completed by the Senior Russian Championships, where she won three medals, and received a ticket to the country's main national team.

Sleptsova coped surprisingly quickly with senior biathlon, attaining several top-10 ranks before the start of the new year. Next, she finished the sprint at Oberhof, Germany
Oberhof, Germany
Oberhof is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district of Thuringia, Germany. It is a winter sports center and health resort. It is visited by tenfold as many tourists every year...

 as second, and repeated this result in the subsequent week at Ruhpolding
Ruhpolding
Ruhpolding is a municipality of the Traunstein district in southeastern Bavaria, Germany. It is situated in the south of the Chiemgau region in the Alps. Ruhpolding has a population of approximately 6,400....

. Later, after the disqualification of Kaisa Varis
Kaisa Varis
Kaisa Varis is a retired Finnish cross country skier and biathlete. Her career has been marred by doping convictions: as a cross country skiier, she was involved but not suspended in a doping scandal and in 2003 she was suspended two years for doping use...

 (Finland), she was awarded the victory of this competition. Sleptsova arrived at the 2008 World Championships in Östersund
Biathlon World Championships 2008
The 42nd Biathlon World Championships were held in Östersund in Jämtland in central Sweden from February 8 to February 17, 2008. It was the second time Östersund was hosting the Biathlon World Championships, the first being in 1970...

 in good form, but an illness prevented her from demonstrating her maximum capability. However, she won the bronze medal in the mixed relay competition. At the end of the season, at Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

-Holmenkollen
Holmenkollen
Holmenkollen is a neighborhood in the Vestre Aker borough of Oslo, Norway. In addition to being a residential area, the area has been a ski recreation area since the late 19th century, with its famous, eponymous, ski jump arena hosting competitions since 1892...

, she achieved her first "real" victory, finally standing on top of the pedestal, and won the pursuit competition as well. She came up with similar results at the 2008 Russian Championships, winning three gold medals and the grand prize - a car. As of 2009, she has three world cup victories, excluding the one Varis retrieved after being cleared to compete again after IBU had broken test correction process.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK