Olga Pyleva, biography

Olga Pyleva is a native biathlete, a multiple winner of the World Cup stages, a 6-time world champion and winner of two gold medals of the Olympic Games. After the marriage, she took the surname of her husband - Medvedtseva, but she won most of the victories, being Pyleva.

Ski race

Olga Pyleva was born in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in the small town of Borodino in July 1975. In 10 years began to seriously engage in sports, and at first only ski racing. She graduated from the Academy of Physical Education in Omsk.

A lot of medals won juniors in competitions, twice became world relay champion, won one silver and two bronze awards in individual races at junior world championships. Her mentor was Honored Coach of the USSR Alexander Grushin.

In 1996, in the life of Pyleva, there is a significant event - the birth of Darya's daughter. After leaving maternity leave, she decides to go to biathlon, a kind of sport related to cross-country skiing.

Biathlon career

In 2000 Olga Pyleva concentrated on biathlon starts. In a matter of months, she became one of the leading female athletes of the country.

In the 1999/2000 season, Olga Pyleva submitted to the biathlon pedestal.

Already in the third race, in a sprint in the German Ruhpolding, she won bronze. At the final stage in the Russian Khanty-Mansiysk again performed very successfully for the debutante. First became the second in the sprint, then the third in the pursuit race.

At the end of the season, she took the 20th place. This result is especially significant, given that in the first half of the season Olga Pyleva did not participate.

Olympic success

In 2002, Pyleva became a member of the Russian national team at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, USA. The first in the program was an individual race. Biathlete Olga Pyleva confidently walked the distance claiming to win, the first three shooting ranges passed without errors, but the latter missed twice, as a result, remained without medals, only in 4th place.

5 seconds at the finish she lost to the Swedish Magdalena Forsberg, who also missed twice on the last line, the winner was the German Andrea Henkel.

The crown for the Dust Sprint race again this time did not bring her medals. Missing on the rack and low speed in the course of the distance allowed to take only 8th place. The winner - another German Katya Wilhelm - Pyleva lost more than a minute.

But biathlete Olga Pyleva did not give up, whose biography radically changed on February 16, 2002. She became an Olympic champion. Although at first everything turned out not at all rosy, at the distance she left the 8th with a lag of more than a minute and made a mistake at the first shooting range.

However, in the future, unmistakable shooting and high speed allowed her to break out into the leaders. On the last lap Pyleva left with Wilhelm. At around 9.2 kilometers, the Russian woman pulled ahead for 5 seconds, eventually managing to maintain this advantage. On this day, she got her first gold Olympic medal.

But on this success the biathletes did not end, at the Olympics in the US, she also won bronze in the team relay race. Pyleva fled at the first stage. Galina Kukleva passed her baton to the rank of the leader of the race. However, Russia was unable to retain the first place. Kukleva completely failed the stand, having gone on two fine circles, and handed over the baton to the 7th. Svetlana Ishmuratova and Albina Akhatova, who fled at the last stages, how they could try to improve the situation. As a result, the team took bronze.

Olympics in Vancouver

The second Olympic gold medal biathlete Olga Pyleva, whose photo was decorated at that time with the cover of all newspapers, won at the games in Vancouver. True, it was possible to shine only in the team race. In the relay.

Pyleva already had the name Medvedtseva by that time, she performed at the third stage. Athletes in the stages before her for two spent only two penalty cartridges.

Olga passed her part of the race unmistakably and at a good pace. Olga Zaitseva finished with a triumph that day. The French national team that was in second place fell behind by more than 30 seconds. Bronze went to the national team of Germany.

A step away from the World Cup

In the 2003/2004 season Pyleva was deservedly considered one of the leaders of the world biathlon, each race confirming this status.

In that season, she managed to win 6 wins at the World Cup stages. I once won an individual race and a mass start and twice a sprint and a pursuit race Olga Pyleva. Photos of athletes with medals in their hands began to appear more often. In that season, she really claimed victory in the World Cup, but she could not surpass the results of Norway's Liv Greta Poiret. Pyleva is the second.

In the next season, her stellar performance continued. But this time Pyleva was only third in the overall standings, having lost a little to the German Katya Wilhelm. One of his main rivals. The victory in that season was won by the Frenchwoman Sandrine Bailly.

Olga Pyleva completed her professional career in big sport in 2010.

Personal life

Darya's daughter was at Pyleva from her first husband, whom she divorced in 2002. In combination, Evgeny Pylev was also her coach.

The second time she married a well-known biathlete Valery Medvedtsev, the Olympic champion in Calgary in 1988 in the relay race.

At the moment, they have already had three children. This son Arseny and daughter Julia and Olga. The latter was born at the end of 2014.