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Biography of Svetlana Sleptsova | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
c/o Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The subsequent text is a Russian-to-English translation of the original biography of Svetlana, published here by kind permission of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU). I'm also indebted to Alexander Kruglov of the RBU's Biathlon Fan Union (СББ, Союз болельщиков биатлона) for invaluable assistance during translation. Source: Original biography of Svetlana Sleptsova, c/o Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Translation: Sven B. Schreiber Date: July 1, 2008 Sleptsova, Svetlana • Birthday: July 31, 1986 • Title: Master of Sports, International Class (МСМК, Мастер спорта международного класса) • Organization: Armed Forces (ВС, Вооруженные силы) • Department: CSKA, Central Sport Club of the Army (ЦСКА, Центральный спортивный клуб армии) • Administrative district: Ural • City: Khanty-Mansiysk, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug - Yugra (HMAO) • Coaches: Valery Pavlovich Zakharov, Alexander Korchak Svetlana - the shooting star of Russian biathlon. A year after her double victory at the Junior World Championships, she has arrived in the top-10 of the world's biathletes. In the World Cup arena, she achieved three victories and seven podium ranks. Svetlana Sleptsova was born in Khanty-Mansiysk on July 31, 1986, in a sports family. At the age of ten, she started regular biathlon classes, when coach Alexander Korchak came to her school and invited her to engage in biathlon. Initially, the young athletes were shooting with air rifles, and Sveta's 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 her childhood, Svetlana did not recognize authority in sport. In 2005, under the direction of Mikhail Novikov, she won the Individual competition at the Youth World Championships in Kontiolahti (Finland), 1:15 minutes ahead of the future hope of Ukrainian biathlon, Vita Semerenko. A few months later, she suffered a severe loss - the death of her father. Growing into the Juniors' age group, Sveta became a member of the Yugra team of head coach Valery Pavlovich 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 in 2007. According to Svetlana, this experience helped her to be better prepared for the Junior World Championships, and so she achieved two victories in Val Martello - 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, the athlete from Khanty-Mansiysk finished the Sprint at Oberhof as second, and repeated this result in the subsequent week at Ruhpolding. Later, after the disqualification of Kaisa Varis (Finland), Svetlana was awarded the victory of this competition. She arrived at the World Championships of Oestersund 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-Holmenkollen, Svetlana achieved her first "real" victory, standing on top of the podium, and won the Pursuit competition as well. Sleptsova came up with similar results at the Russian Championships, winning the grand prize - a "Suzuki" car. Her hobbies - big tennis, and music. On holidays, Svetlana prefers the sea, for example, in Egypt or Spain. She considers competitions with immediate rival contact as her favorites (i.e. Pursuit, Mass-Start, Relay), because, in these contests, the athletes expose differences with respect to persistence, eagerness, and dedication. This year (2008), she received a degree at the Yugra State University, specializing as "expert of physical training". Svetlana's height: 162 cm. Weight: 53 kg. More information about her can be found at www.sleptsova.ru. Achievements • 3 times Youth/Junior World Champion; • 1 bronze medal in the Mixed Relay (World Championships, Oestersund 2008); • 3 victories at World Cup stages; • 2 second ranks at World Cup stages; • 2 third ranks at World Cup stages; • #8 in the World Cup total score. Results of the last season (2007/2008)
[ DNS = did not start ] Overall World Cup performance (2007/2008) Shooting: 86% Total score: Rank 8 (579 points) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
