Jelena Borisovna Jelessina

Jelena Borissowna Jelessina ( Russian Елена Борисовна Елесина , English transcription Yelena Yelesina ; born April 4, 1970 in Chelyabinsk ) is a former Russian high jumper and Olympic champion .

Jelena Jelessina started her career in third place at the Junior European Championships in 1987. In 1988 she won silver at the Junior World Championships, in 1989 she was Junior European Champion.

In 1990 she won the Goodwill Games in Seattle, where she set her personal best of 2.02 m. At the European Championships in 1990 she won bronze with 1.96 m. In 1991 she was second at the World Championships in Tokyo with 1.98 m behind Heike Henkel . In 1992 she was third at the European Indoor Championships with 1.94 m. She won the medals up to this point for the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Because of injuries and the birth of her son, Jelena Jelessina did not take part in championships for a few years.

In 1998 she came back - now starting for Russia - and started where she left off in 1992. With 1.94 m she was again third at the European Indoor Championships. At the 1999 World Championships , she won silver with 1.99 m behind the height level Inha Babakowa (UKR).

At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney she won Olympic gold in the high jump with 2.01 m at the same height as the second-placed Hestrie Cloete (RSA).

In 2003 she jumped 2.02 m indoors and thus equalized her personal (outdoor) best from 1990. At the 2003 indoor world championships , she finished second behind Kajsa Bergqvist (SWE) with 1.99 m .

With a height of 1.83 m, her competition weight was 64 kg.

Web links

• Yelena Yelesina in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Jelena Borissowna Jelessina in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )