Olena Petrova

Born Elena Petrova on 24 September 1972 in Moscow, Russia. She is a retired biathlete who competed for Ukraine because couldn't find a place in the Russian team. Her first year in biathlon was 1989 and she appeared in the World Cup in 1992. Petrova won one silver Olympic medal in the 15 km Individual event in Nagano in 1998. Her remarkable career is signed with 10 medals from World Championships over the years - 4 silver in the mass start in 1999, the sprint in 2003, the team event in 1996 and the 4 x 6 km relay; 6 bronze in the Individual events in 1996 and 2004, the team event in 1997 and the 4 x 7.5 km relay in 1996, 2000 and 2001. Olena Petrova participated in 4 Winter Olympic Games - in 1994 in Lillehammer, 1998 in Nagano, 2002 in Salt Lake City and 2006 in Turin. Aside from winning the silver in 1998, her best results were 11th in the sprint and 5th in the relay. She landed the 5th position also with the relay in 1994 in Lillehammer. Petrova achieved one individual win in the mass start in Ruhpolding in 1998-1999. That season she made her best overall finish - 7th. Petrova has been at second place - 4 times, at third - 11 times and fourth - 3 times during her career mostly in the Individual event. Her shooting precision was always at high level. She was the flag bearer for Ukraine at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Deeply respected and awarded the Merited Master of Sports of Ukraine, Olena Petrova ended her career in January 2008 to become a youth coach.