All articles starting with Y
4,654 articles
Yelena Baturina (Елена Николаевна Батурина)
Yelena Baturina (Елена Батурина) is a Russian billionaire businesswoman who founded the construction group Inteko, built it into a leading Moscow developer, and moved to London.
Yelena Belova (Marvel Cinematic Universe)
Yelena Belova is an MCU character played by Florence Pugh, debuting in Black Widow (2021), appearing in Hawkeye, leading the Thunderbolts/New Avengers in Thunderbolts (2025), and returning in Avengers: Doomsday.
Yelena Berezhnaya
Yelena Berezhnaya (Елена Бережная), Russian pair skater born 1977; 2002 Olympic pairs champion with Anton Sikharulidze, 1998 silver medalist, survived a 1996 skate-blade head injury.
Yelena Davydova
Yelena Davydova (Елена Викторовна Давыдова), born 1961 in Voronezh, is a Soviet-born gymnast who won the disputed 1980 Moscow Olympic all-around and team gold, took beam silver, and later coached and judged in Canada.
Yelena Dementyeva
Yelena Dementyeva (Elena Dementieva; Елена Дементьева), Russian tennis player born 1981 in Moscow. Olympic singles gold 2008 and silver 2000, two 2004 Grand Slam finals, career-high WTA rank 3, 16 singles titles, renowned return of serve despite a weak serve.
Yelena Gorchakova
Yelena Gorchakova (Елена Егоровна Горчакова), Soviet javelin thrower (1933-2002) from Moscow; two-time Olympic bronze medalist (Helsinki 1952, Tokyo 1964) and 1964 world record holder at 62.40 m.
Yelena Grudneva
Yelena Grudneva (Елена Груднева) is a Russian gymnast, born in 1974 in Kemerovo, who won team gold with the Unified Team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Yelena Ilinykh
Yelena (Elena) Ruslanovna Ilinykh, born 1994 in Aktau, Kazakhstan, is a Russian ice dancer who with Nikita Katsalapov won 2014 Sochi Olympic gold in the team event and bronze in ice dance.
Yelena Isinbaeva
Yelena Isinbayeva (Елена Исинбаева), Russian pole vaulter born 1982 in Volgograd; double Olympic champion 2004 and 2008, holder of the women's world record 5.06 m since 2009, with nearly 30 world records and a 2016 Rio ban.
Yelena Khudashova
Yelena Anatolyevna Khudashova (Елена Анатольевна Худашова), Russian basketball center born 1965 in Khabarovsk; Olympic gold 1992 with the Unified Team, bronze 1988 with the USSR, sixth 2000 with Russia; three EuroBasket golds.
Yelena Kofanova
Yelena Kofanova, later Yelena Kotulskaya, Russian 800m runner born 1988 in Moscow; 2009 European U23 champion (1:58.94 championship record), two indoor 4x800m world records, 2013 European indoor silver.
Yelena Krivokhizka
Yelena Krivokhizka, Ukrainian race walker; set a women's 50 km race walk world best of 4:36:45 at Scanzorosciate on 28 October 2001, in an event where world records were not officially recognised.
Yelena Motalova
Yelena Motalova (Елена Моталова), Russian steeplechase runner born 1971, set the inaugural women's 3000m steeplechase world record of 9:48.88 in Tula on 31 July 1999; also 1999 World Cross Country competitor.
Yelena Murzina
Yelena Murzina (Елена Анатольевна Мурзина), Russian rhythmic gymnast born 1984 in Yekaterinburg; won women's group gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, plus world titles 2002 and 2003 and the 2003 European title.
Yelena Naimushina
Yelena Naimushina (Елена Наимушина), Soviet artistic gymnast (1964–2017) from Krasnoyarsk; 1980 Moscow Olympic team gold, 1979 Worlds team silver, 1980 World Cup beam champion; retired 1982 with a back injury.
Yelena Nikolayeva
Yelena Nikolayeva (Елена Николаевна Николаева), Russian race walker born 1966 in Akshiki; 1996 Olympic 10 km walk champion and 1992 silver medalist, 2003 world 20 km champion, 10 km world record 41:04.
Yelena Novikova Belova
Yelena Dmitriyevna Novikova-Belova (Елена Дмитриевна Новикова-Белова), Soviet foil fencer born 1947, first female fencer with four Olympic golds (1968 individual and team, 1972 and 1976 team), plus 1980 team silver, 1976 bronze, and eight world titles.
Yelena Ovchinnikova
Yelena Ovchinnikova (Елена Валерьевна Овчинникова), born 1982 in Moscow, Russian artistic swimmer; 2008 Olympic team gold, seven world and three European championship titles, retired 2008.
Yelena Posevina
Yelena Posevina (Елена Александровна Посевина), born 1986 in Tula, Russian group rhythmic gymnast; two Olympic golds in women's group all-around (Athens 2004, Beijing 2008), multiple world and European titles, later a coach in Nizhny Novgorod.
Yelena Prokofyeva
Yelena Prokofyeva (Елена Геннадьевна Прокофьева), born 1994 in Moscow, Russian artistic swimmer; 2016 Olympic team gold, six world and three European team titles; distinct from para table tennis player Elena Prokofeva.
Yelena Romanova
Yelena Romanova (Елена Николаевна Романова, née Malykhina, 1963–2007), Russian distance runner; 1992 Olympic 3000m champion for the Unified Team, 1991 World silver medalist, 1990 European 10000m champion; distinct from biathlete Yana Romanova; died in Volgograd at 43.
Yelena Ruzina
Yelena Ruzina (Елена Ивановна Рузина), Russian 400 m sprinter born 1964 in Voronezh; 1992 Olympic 4x400 m relay champion for the Unified Team, 1993 World silver and 1995 World Indoor relay gold; later a coach in Voronezh.
Yelena Shevchenko
Yelena Shevchenko (Елена Николаевна Шевченко), born 1971 in Moscow, is a retired Soviet artistic gymnast, CSKA Moscow club member, who won team gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and placed ninth on vault individually.
Yelena Shumkina
Yelena Shumkina (Olena Shumkina, Олена Шумкіна), Ukrainian race walker born 1988 in Mordovia, Russia; 2009 European U23 20 km champion, PB 1:25:32; 2012 Olympian later stripped of 2011–2017 results for biological passport irregularities.
Yelena Shvaybovich
Yelena Shvaybovich (Yelena Petrovna Shvaybovich, nee Ksenzhik), Belarusian basketball guard born 1966 in Minsk; 1992 Barcelona Olympic gold with the Unified Team; later general director of BC Rostov-Don.
Yelena Slesarenko
Yelena Slesarenko (Елена Слесаренко), Russian high jumper born 1982 in Volgograd; 2004 Olympic champion and Olympic record holder at 2.06 m, two-time World Indoor champion, disqualified from the 2008 Olympics after a turinabol retest, retired 2014.
Yelena Soya
Yelena Soya (Елена Игоревна Соя), born 1981 in Moscow, is a Russian artistic (synchronised) swimmer who won Olympic team gold at Sydney 2000 with 99.146 points, plus European titles in 1999 and 2000 and the 1999 World Cup.
Yelena Tornikidu
Yelena Tornikidu (Elena Tornikidou, Елена Андонисовна Торникиду), born 1965 in Tashkent, is a basketball forward who won 1992 Olympic gold with the Unified Team, EuroBasket gold 1987 and 1989, and played for the WNBA's Detroit Shock 1999-2001.
Yelena Valbe
Yelena Välbe (Елена Вяльбе, née Trubitsyna), Russian cross-country skier born 1968 in Magadan: three Olympic relay golds, record 14 world titles including five golds at Trondheim 1997, 45 World Cup wins, later president of Russian ski federation.
Yelena Vaytsekhovskaya
Yelena Vaytsekhovskaya (Елена Сергеевна Вайцеховская, born 1958, Lviv) is a Soviet diver and sports journalist, 1976 Montreal Olympic gold medalist in women's 10 m platform and the first Soviet Olympic diving champion.