Yelena Valeryevna Välbe (, née Trubitsyna; born 20 April 1968) is a Russian former cross-country skier. She won a record 14 gold medals (5 in relays) at the FIS World Championships, including all five golds in the 1997 edition. She also won three Olympic gold medals (all in relays) and four bronze medals in various Winter Olympic Games as well as four World Cup Crystal Globes.
In 2004, she lost when she ran for president of the Russian Ski Racing Federation. Välbe was later elected President of the Russian Cross-Country Ski Association and has been in that position since 2010, and manager of the Russian National Cross-Country Team since 2012.
She was elected to the FIS Council in 2021. But after she supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a number of European Ski Federations objected to her participation in the 2022 election, and Välbe's nomination was publicly opposed by the representatives of Sweden, Poland, and Finland. As a result, she was removed from the FIS Council after garnering the fewest votes of 23 candidates. In 2022, Välbe supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying that: "we are not at war with Ukraine and no one attacked it."
Career Summary At the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Välbe won fourteen gold (1989: 10 km freestyle, 30 km; 1991: 10 km, 15 km, 4 × 5 km relay; 1993: 15 km, 4 × 5 km relay; 1995: 30 km, 4 × 5 km relay), and three silver medals (1989: 4 × 5 km relay, 1991: 30 km, 1995: 15 km), including all five golds at the 1997 championships in Trondheim (5 km, 5 km + 10 km combined pursuit, 15 km, 30 km, and 4 × 5 km relay). She also won three gold (all in relays) and four bronze medals in various Winter Olympic Games as well as the FIS Cross-Country World Cup five times (1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997). At the 1992 Winter Olympics, she entered in every competition in cross-country skiing and medaled in all of them.
After retirement In 2004, she lost when she ran for president of the Russian Ski Racing Federation. In 2010, Välbe was elected as President of the Russian Cross-Country Ski Association."Presidential elections in Norway, Russia", fis-ski.com, Retrieved February 24, 2013 In 2012, she got the position of manager for the Russian Cross-Country Team towards the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She was also manager for the Russian team during the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Välbe was elected to the FIS Council in 2021, but after she supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a number of European Ski Federations objected to her participation in the 2022 election, and Välbe's nomination was publicly opposed by the representatives of Sweden, Poland, and Finland. As a result, she was removed from the position after garnering the fewest votes of all 23 candidates.
Political career Välbe was a member of the political council of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in the State Duma from the regional branch, and ran in the 2021 Russian legislative election on the United Russia party list. She won in the United Russia primaries and was leader of United Russia's territorial group No. 29, which included the Vladimir and Ivanovo Oblasts. Having won the elections, she refused to be a deputy, and the Central Election Commission transferred her mandate to Aleksey Govyrin. She eventually withdrew her candidacy.
In 2023, Välbe joined the PutinTeam, whose members supported Vladimir Putin's nomination for the 2024 Russian presidential election.
Views In 2022, Välbe supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying that "we are not at war with Ukraine and no one attacked it."
In January 2023, sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt of Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) said that he believes Välbe must now be fired from all sport-related offices going forward. He said: "It is completely reprehensible that a cross-country president makes such statements [supporting the invasion of Ukraine]. Now she is choosing a confrontational line that either shows her internal position is weakened, or she is confident that Russia will be brought back faster than many thought."
In March 2023, Välbe said the following about European politics and the United States.
In November 2023, she said she supported Putin's policies and Russia's war against Ukraine, and was proud that her younger brother had volunteered to fight in the war. In December 2023, she said of Putin: "I love our president madly."
In September 2024, she said "if Russia dropped a bomb in London, Russians would be allowed to attend the Olympics".
Personal life Välbe is estranged from her father, Valery Ivanovich Trubitsyn. Her father is Ukrainian-born, and lives in Ukraine.
Explaining her character, she said that as a child, she and her mother Galina Grigorievna Synkova lived with her maternal grandparents. Her maternal grandfather told her: "Don't wait to be hit, hit you in the face first."
Formerly she was married to Estonian cross-country skier Urmas Välbe. Together they had one child the same year they married, Franz, with whom she spent a month and a half in Ukraine in 1988. They separated the year after they married, and divorced in 2005.<ref name="auto"/ She later gave birth to Polina and Varvara, and since her divorce moved to and now lives in the Istra district in Moscow Oblast.
Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games 7 medals – (3 gold, 4 bronze) Year Age 5 km 15 km Pursuit 30 km 4 × 5 km relay 1992 23 Bronze Bronze Bronze Bronze Gold 1994 25 — 6 — 6Gold 1998 29 — 17 — 5 Gold
World Championships 17 medals – (14 gold, 3 silver) Year Age 5 km 10 km classical 10 km freestyle 15 km Pursuit 30 km 4 × 5 km relay 1989 20 6Gold — Gold Silver 1991 22 19 Gold Gold — SilverGold 1993 24 4 Gold 6 19Gold 1995 26 4 Silver 12 GoldGold 1997 28 Gold Gold Gold Gold Gold
World Cup Season standings Season Age OverallLong DistanceSprint 1987 18 23 1989 20 1990 21 1991 22 1992 23 1993 24 1994 25 1995 26 1996 27 1997 28 1998 29 12 5 18
Individual podiums 45 victories 81 podiums
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place1 1988–89 10 December 1988 La Féclaz, France 5 km Individual F World Cup 3rd2 14 December 1988 Campra, Switzerland 15 km Individual F World Cup 1st3 17 December 1988 Davos, Switzerland 10 km Individual C World Cup 3rd4 7 January 1989 Kavgolovo, Soviet Union 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st5 19 February 1989 Lahti, Finland 10 km Individual F World Championships 1st6 25 February 1989 30 km Individual F World Championships 1st7 11 March 1989 Falun, Sweden 15 km Individual F World Cup 1st8 1989–90 10 December 1989 Soldier Hollow, United States 15 km Individual F World Cup 3rd9 18 February 1990 Pontresina, Switzerland 15 km Individual F World Cup 2nd10 20 February 1990 Val di Fiemme, Italy 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st11 2 March 1990 Lahti, Finland 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st12 7 March 1990 Sollefteå, Sweden 30 km Individual F World Cup 3rd13 1990–91 8 December 1990 Tauplitzalm, Austria 10 km + 15 km Pursuit C/F World Cup 2nd14 15 December 1990 Davos, Switzerland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st15 15 December 1990 Les Saisies, France 5 km + 10 km Pursuit C/F World Cup 1st16 5 January 1991 Minsk, Soviet Union 30 km Individual C World Cup 1st17 8 February 1991 Val di Fiemme, Italy 15 km Individual C World Championships 1st18 10 February 1991 10 km Individual F World Championships 1st19 16 February 1991 30 km Individual F World Championships 2nd20 2 March 1991 Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual F World Cup 1st21 9 March 1991 Falun, Sweden 15 km Individual F World Cup 1st22 16 March 1991 Oslo, Norway 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st23 1991–927 December 1991 Silver Star, Canada 5 km Individual C World Cup 1st24 8 December 1991 10 km Pursuit C World Cup 2nd25 14 December 1991 Thunder Bay, Canada 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st26 4 January 1992 Kavgolovo, Russia 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st27 9 February 1992 Albertville, France 15 km Individual C Olympic Games 3rd28 13 February 1992 5 km Individual C Olympic Games 3rd29 15 February 1992 10 km Pursuit F Olympic Games 3rd30 21 February 1992 10 km Pursuit F Olympic Games 3rd31 14 March 1992 Vang, Norway 15 km Individual F World Cup 1st32 1992–93 12 December 1992 Ramsau, Austria 5 km Individual C World Cup 2nd33 18 December 1992 Val di Fiemme, Italy 15 km Individual F World Cup 3rd34 3 January 1993 Kavgolovo, Russia 30 km Individual C World Cup 2nd35 9 January 1993 Ulrichen, Switzerland 10 km Individual C World Cup 1st36 16 January 1993 Cogne, Italy 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd37 19 February 1993 Falun, Sweden 15 km Individual C World Championships 1st38 10 March 1993 Lillehammer, Norway 10 km Pursuit F World Cup 3rd39 19 March 1993 Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia 10 km Individual C World Cup 1st40 1993–9411 December 1993 Santa Caterina, Italy 5 km Individual C World Cup 1st41 18 December 1993 Davos, Switzerland 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st42 21 December 1993 Toblach, Italy 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd43 8 January 1994 Kavgolovo, Russia 10 km Individual C World Cup 3rd44 12 March 1994 Falun, Sweden 10 km Individual F World Cup 2nd45 1994–9527 November 1994 Kiruna, Sweden 5 km Individual C World Cup 1st46 14 December 1994 Tauplitzalm, Austria 10 km Individual C World Cup 1st47 17 December 1994 Sappada, Italy 15 km Individual F World Cup 1st48 20 December 1994 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st49 7 January 1995 Östersund, Sweden 30 km Individual F World Cup 1st50 14 January 1995 Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st51 4 February 1995 Falun, Sweden 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd52 5 February 1995 10 km Pursuit F World Cup 1st53 10 March 1995 Thunder Bay, Canada 5 km Individual C World Championships 2nd54 18 March 1995 30 km Individual F World Championships 1st55 25 March 1995 Sapporo, Japan 15 km Individual F World Cup1st56 1995–96 25 November 1995 Vuokatti, Finland 5 km Individual C World Cup 2nd57 29 November 1995 Gällivare, Sweden 10 km Individual F World Cup 3rd58 9 December 1995 Davos, Switzerland 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st59 10 December 1995 10 km Pursuit C World Cup 2nd60 13 December 1995 Brusson, Italy 10 km Individual F World Cup 1st61 9 January 1996 Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia 30 km Individual F World Cup 2nd62 13 January 1996 Nové Město, Czech Republic 10 km Individual C World Cup 1st63 2 February 1996 Seefeld, Austria 5 km Individual F World Cup 3rd64 4 February 1996 Reit im Winkl, Germany 1.0 km Sprint FWorld Cup 1st65 25 February 1996 Trondheim, Norway 10 km Pursuit F World Cup 2nd66 10 March 1996 Falun, Sweden 15 km Individual F World Cup 2nd67 1996–9723 November 1996 Kiruna, Sweden 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st68 7 December 1996 Davos, Switzerland 10 km Individual C World Cup 2nd69 14 December 1996 Brusson, Italy 15 km Individual F World Cup 2nd70 5 January 1997 Kavgolovo, Russia 15 km Individual FWorld Cup 1st71 11 January 1997 Hakuba, Japan 5 km Individual C World Cup 3rd72 12 January 1997 10 km Pursuit F World Cup 3rd73 18 January 1997 Lahti, Finland 15 km Individual C World Cup 2nd74 21 February 1997 Trondheim, Norway 15 km Individual FWorld Championships 1st75 23 February 1997 5 km Individual CWorld Championships 1st76 24 February 1997 10 km Pursuit FWorld Championships 1st77 1 March 1997 30 km Individual CWorld Championships 1st78 8 March 1997 Falun, Sweden 5 km Individual F World Cup 1st79 11 March 1997 Sunne, Sweden 1.0 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd80 15 March 1997 Oslo, Norway 30 km Individual F World Cup 2nd81 1997–98 20 December 1997 Davos, Switzerland 15 km Individual C World Cup 1st
Team podiums 24 victories – (24 ) 32 podiums – (30 , 2 )