Raisa Petrovna Smetanina (russian: Раиса Петровна Сметанина; born 29 February 1952) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n cross-country skiing champion. She is the first woman in history to win ten Winter Olympic medals.

Career

Smetanina took part in five Olympics, representing the Soviet team four times and the Unified Team once. In particular, Smetanina won two gold and one silver medals at the

1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. Olympische Winterspiele, french: XIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Innsbruck 1976 ( bar, Innschbruck 1976, label= Austro-Bavarian), was a ...

, becoming the most successful athlete there, along with

Rosi Mittermaier Rosa Anna Katharina Mittermaier-Neureuther (; 5 August 1950 – 4 January 2023) was a German alpine skier. She was the overall World Cup champion in 1976 and a double gold medalist at the 1976 Winter Olympics. Mittermaier competed in alpine ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

, at the age of 39, Smetanina won a further gold medal competing for the Unified Team in the 4 × 5 km relay, becoming the first woman to win ten Winter Olympic medals and at that time the oldest woman to win a Winter Olympic gold. Smetanina also had successes 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 ...

, winning four golds (20 km ( 1982), and 4 × 5 km relay ( 1974,

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

), three silvers (10 km ( 1978), and 4 × 5 km relay (1982,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

)), and four bronzes (4 × 5 km relay (1978), 5 km (1974, 1978), and 20 km ( 1980)). She also won three times at the Holmenkollen ski festival, once in the 10 km (1975) and twice in the 5 km (1975 and 1979). In 1979 Smetanina received the Holmenkollen medal (shared with

Erik Håker Erik Håker (born 4 March 1952) was the first Norwegian alpine skier to win a World Cup event. He has done that in 1971, and won four more events in 1972–1978. In 1979 he was awarded the Holmenkollen medal. Håker competed at the 1972, 1976 a ...

and

Ingemar Stenmark Jan Ingemar Stenmark (; born 18 March 1956) is a Swedish former World Cup alpine ski racer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever, and as the greatest slalom and giant slalom specialist of all time. He competed fo ...

). She was also awarded

Order of Friendship of Peoples The Order of Friendship of Peoples (russian: oрден Дружбы народов, translit=orden Druzhby narodov) was an order of the Soviet Union, and was awarded to persons (including non-citizens), organizations, enterprises, military unit ...

(1984).

Cross-country skiing results

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

Olympic Games

* 10 medals – (4 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze)

World Championships

* 11 medals – (4 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze)

World Cup

Season standings

Individual podiums

*3 victories *16 podiums

Team podiums

* 3 victories * 9 podiums Note: Until the 1999 World Championships and the

1994 Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fr ...

, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

References

External links

*
Holmenkollen medalists
– click Holmenkollmedaljen for downloadable pdf file
Holmenkollen winners since 1892
– click Vinnere for downloadable pdf file {{DEFAULTSORT:Smetanina, Raisa 1952 births Living people People from Izhemsky District Cross-country skiers at the 1976 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1980 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1984 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Holmenkollen medalists Holmenkollen Ski Festival winners Olympic cross-country skiers of the Unified Team Olympic cross-country skiers of the Soviet Union Russian female cross-country skiers Soviet female cross-country skiers Olympic medalists in cross-country skiing FIS Nordic World Ski Championships medalists in cross-country skiing Medalists at the 1984 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team Olympic bronze medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic gold medalists for the Soviet Union Olympic silver medalists for the Soviet Union Komi people Sportspeople from the Komi Republic