Yelena Välbe

Yelena Välbe
Yelena Välbe in 2021
Country Russia
Full nameYelena Valeryevna Välbe
Born (1968-04-20) 20 April 1968
Magadan, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Height164 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Spouse(s)Urmas Välbe (divorced in 2005)
Ski clubCSKA Moscow
World Cup career
Seasons11– (1987, 19891998)
Indiv. starts117
Indiv. podiums81
Indiv. wins45
Team starts33
Team podiums32
Team wins24
Overall titles5 – (1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997)
Discipline titles1 – (1 LD: 1997)
Medal record
Women's cross-country skiing
Olympic Games
Representing  Russia
1994 Lillehammer4 × 5 km relay
1998 Nagano4 × 5 km relay
Representing  Unified Team
1992 Albertville4 × 5 km relay
1992 Albertville5 km classical
1992 Albertville15 km classical
1992 Albertville5 km + 10 km
combined pursuit
1992 Albertville30 km freestyle
World Championships
Representing  Russia
1993 Falun15 km classical
1993 Falun4 × 5 km relay
1995 Thunder Bay30 km freestyle
1995 Thunder Bay4 × 5 km relay
1997 Trondheim5 km classical
1997 Trondheim5 km + 10 km
combined pursuit
1997 Trondheim15 km freestyle
1997 Trondheim30 km classical
1997 Trondheim4 × 5 km relay
1995 Thunder Bay15 km classical
Representing  Soviet Union
1989 Lahti10 km freestyle
1989 Lahti30 km freestyle
1991 Val di Fiemme10 km freestyle
1991 Val di Fiemme15 km classical
1991 Val di Fiemme4 × 5 km relay
1989 Lahti4 × 5 km relay
1991 Val di Fiemme30 km freestyle
Junior World Championships
Representing  Soviet Union
1987 Asiago15 km freestyle
1987 Asiago3 × 5 km relay
1986 Lake Placid5 km classical
1986 Lake Placid3 × 5 km relay
1987 Asiago5 km classical
1986 Lake Placid15 km freestyle

Yelena Valeryevna Välbe (Russian: Елена Валерьевна Вяльбе, 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."