Kaija Vahtra
Kaija Vahtra 
|
|||||||||
| nation |
 Estonia
|
||||||||
| birthday | 4th December 1986 | ||||||||
| place of birth | Võru, Soviet Union
|
||||||||
| Career | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| society | Võru Suusaklubi | ||||||||
| Trainer | Kalmer Tramm | ||||||||
| status | not active | ||||||||
| Medal table | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup | |||||||||
|
|||||||||
| last change: December 30, 2011 | |||||||||
Kaija Vahtra (born December 4, 1986 in Võru , then Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic , Soviet Union ; born Kaija Udras) is an Estonian cross-country skier .
Athletic career
Vahtra was first used in the cross-country skiing world cup in 2005 . In Otepää , she took the classic 45th and last place over 10 kilometers. Even at the Junior World Championships in 2005 in Rovaniemi , she could not record any successes worth mentioning. Her best was the 33rd place in the sprint competition. In the 2006/07 season Vahtra started mainly in the Scandinavian Cup. In her home town of Jõulumäe , with 24th place over 5 kilometers, she managed to make it into the top 30 athletes for the first time. At the end of the season she started in Pragelato at the Winter Universiade , where she finished 36th in the 5 km freestyle. In the following season she again achieved her best result of the season in the Scandinavian Cup with 13th place over 10 kilometers in Jõulumäe. In her third outing in the World Cup over 10 kilometers classic in Otepää, she improved the results of recent years and came in 39th out of 57 starters. At the FIS races in Albu , she achieved her first podium finish in an international race with third place over 4.5 kilometers behind Manuela Henkel . At the U23 World Championships she finished 34th in the sprint, 36th place over 10 kilometers classic and 42nd place over 15 kilometers freestyle (mass start). In the summer of 2008, she won tenth place in the sprint at the well-attended roller ski competition in Otepää when Justyna Kowalczyk won. At the FIS race in Muonio , which is considered to be the location for the upcoming World Cup season, she finished 10th in the sprint, after which she was nominated for the World Cup opener in Kuusamo . As 45th in the qualification of the sprint, however, she clearly missed the finals. Also in Düsseldorf and Otepää she did not reach the quarter-finals as 44th and 37th respectively. In the Scandinavian Cup, she succeeded in qualifying for the sprint competition in Keuruu , where she failed in the quarterfinals. At the U23 World Championships in Le Praz-de-Lys-Sommand , she reached the semifinals in the sprint and finished tenth in the final. After two further good placements in the Scandinavian Cup in Mammaste and Riga , Vahtra was nominated for the Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec . In her first start over the 10 km classic she was 54th of 71 starters. In the sprint competition, which was held in freestyle , she managed to reach the finals with the sixteenth time. However, she was eliminated in the quarter-finals, but reached 22nd place, the best placement of an Estonian athlete at the World Championships in Liberec. In the team sprint she started together with Kaili Sirge . The duo eliminated in the semifinals and finished twelfth. With the Estonian relay only the 15th and last place remained. Vahtra won her first World Cup points a short time later at the World Cup in Lahti . After finishing sixth in the qualification, however, she was eliminated in the quarterfinals and finished 26th. She also qualified for the quarter-finals on her first appearance in the 2009/10 season . After 29th place in Kuusamo, she was able to improve significantly in the sprint in Rogla, Slovenia , and with 19th place achieved her best career result so far. At the Estonian championship she won the gold medal in the sprint in classical technique and in the pursuit competition over 15 kilometers. These good results of the season secured her a place in the Estonian national team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver . There she just missed qualifying for the finals in 31st place. In the pursuit competition, like her famous compatriot Kristina Šmigun-Vähi , she gave up the race early on during the classic sub-discipline due to material problems. In the team sprint, she finished 14th with Triin Ojaste . Despite being pregnant, Vahtra took part in the 2011 Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo . Where, as 65th in the qualification of the sprint competition, she clearly missed the finals.
After the birth of her son in summer 2011, Vahtra will not compete in the 2011/12 season .
Private life
In spring 2011 she married the Estonian cross-country skier Eeri Vahtra . In 2011 their son Eerik was born.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Suusatajad Udras ja Vahtra said lapse . Postimees . 2011-22-07. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
Web links
- Kaija Vahtra in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)
- Kaija Vahtra in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Profile at the Estonian Ski Association
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vahtra, Kaija |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Udras, Kaija |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian cross-country skier |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th December 1986 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Võru , Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic , Soviet Union |