Svetlana Sleptsova

Who is Svetlana Sleptsova?

Svetlana Yuryevna Sleptsova is a Russian biathlete. She is a member of the club CSKA. She is a three-time Junior World Champion and won the bronze medal in the mixed relay at the 2008 World Championships in Östersund. In 2009 she was part of the Gold medal winning Russian women's relay team at the World Championships in Pyeongchang. Sleptsova is an Olympic Champion in relay at the Vancouver

Svetlana Sleptsova was born in a sports family. At the age of ten, she started regular biathlon classes, when biathlon coach Alexander Korchak came to her school and invited her to engage in biathlon. In a chat of 17 January 2008 at Rasen-Antholz, Sleptsova recalls: "I started doing biathlon in third grade. There was nothing else but biathlon in Khanty-Mansiysk at that time. There was no alternative." Initially, the young athletes were shooting with air rifles, and the 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 2005, under the direction of Mikhail Novikov, she won the individual competition at the Youth World Championships in Kontiolahti, 1:15 minutes ahead of Vita Semerenko. A few months later, she suffered a severe loss - the death of her father.