Elena Vladimirovna Khrustaleva () (born 28 September 1980, in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

) is a former

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n (until 2001, and since 2002 till 2006),

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

ian (since 2001 till 2002), and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

i (since 2006)

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

. She won a silver medal at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. This was Kazakhstan's 6th medal at the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

and 45th overall Olympic medal. It is also both Kazakhstan's and Asia's only Olympic medal in biathlon.

Career

Khrustaleva made her international debut at the Junior European Championships in 2000 at

Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...

. She won gold in singles and with the Russian squadron. Shortly afterwards, at the Junior World Championships, in

Hochfilzen Hochfilzen is a town and municipality in the Kitzbühel (district), Kitzbühel district of the Austrian state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol. It is located in the Pillersee valley 5 km east of Fieberbrunn. Population was 1,147 in 2016. It is a popu ...

, she won a silver in the pursuit behind Sabrina Buchholz. After the season, she was ranked fourth in singles and sprint. At the Junior World Championships, in

Khanty-Mansiysk Khanty-Mansiysk (, lit. ''Khanty-Mansi Town''; Khanty: , ''Jomvoćś''; Mansi: , ''Abga'') is a city in west-central Russia. Technically, it is situated on the eastern bank of the Irtysh River, from its confluence with the Ob, in the oil-ri ...

, a summer biathlon, she won silver behind Tatiana Moiseyeva. The following season, Khrustaleva changed her citizenship with Belarus. At the

Biathlon World Cup The Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977–78 for men and 1982–83 for women. The women's seasons until 1986–87 season were called the European Cup, alt ...

, in

, she achieved 36th place in the sprint. Halfway through the season, just before the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...

, Khrustaleva achieved her best World Cup rankings. In the individual and the squadron, Khrustaleva achieved seventh and sixth. At the

, Khrustaleva managed 33rd place in the sprint and a 30th place in the pursuit. For the 2003/04 season, she again changed her citizenship back with Russia. At the European Championships in 2003, in Forni Avoltri, Khrustaleva won gold in singles. With the Russian squadron, in 2005, in

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...

, she won gold in the relay. For the 2006/07 season, she changed her citizenship with Kazakhstan. At the World Championships in 2007, a summer biathlon in

Otepää Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer ca ...

, she won silver medals in the sprint and mass start behind Natalya Sokolova. In the individual competition of the World Cup 2009, Khrustaleva achieved sixth place. At the

, she managed 5th place in the sprint and 2nd place in the Individual.

References

External links

Elena Khrustaleva's profile
from https://web.archive.org/web/20100222080013/http://www.vancouver2010.com/; retrieved 2010-02-18.
Elena Khrustaleva's profile
from the International Biathlon Union; retrieved 2010-02-19. * 1980 births Russian female biathletes Belarusian female biathletes Kazakhstani female biathletes Naturalized citizens of Belarus Naturalized citizens of Kazakhstan Living people Olympic biathletes for Kazakhstan Olympic biathletes for Belarus Biathletes at the 2002 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2010 Winter Olympics Biathletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Kazakhstan Sportspeople from Krasnoyarsk Skiers from Krasnoyarsk Krai Olympic medalists in biathlon Medalists at the 2010 Winter Olympics Russian emigrants to Belarus Russian emigrants to Kazakhstan Asian Games medalists in biathlon Biathletes at the 2007 Asian Winter Games Biathletes at the 2011 Asian Winter Games Asian Games gold medalists for Kazakhstan Asian Games silver medalists for Kazakhstan Asian Games bronze medalists for Kazakhstan Medalists at the 2007 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 2011 Asian Winter Games 21st-century Russian sportswomen {{Kazakhstan-biathlon-bio-stub