Julija Tchepalova
Encyclopedia
Yuliya Chepalova ' onMouseout='HidePop("1077")' href="/topics/Komsomolsk-on-Amur">Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, situated on the left bank of Amur River. It is located on the BAM railway line, northeast of Khabarovsk. Population: -Geography and climate:...

, Russian SFSR) is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n cross-country skier
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

.

Early and current personal life

Daughter of a cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing
Cross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

 coach, Chepalova started to ski as soon as she began to walk. Coached by her father, Anatoly Chepalov, Yuliya made her debut in 1986 and continued to move upward through the old Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 system (and later Russian, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in late 1991). Chepalov, a coach of the Russian junior national team, reportedly sold off all of his assets to help finance his daughter's career. Chepalova is currently affiliated with Dynamo Moscow
Dynamo Sports Club
Dinamo, also Dynamo, is the oldest sports and physical training society that was created in 1923.-Name:The name given to the society was supposed to mean "Power in Motion" from Greek: δύναμις; dynamis -power, and Latin: motio, -motion...

, lives in Syktyvkar
Syktyvkar
-Twin towns/sister cities:Syktyvkar is twinned with the following sister cities: Cullera, Spain Debrecen, Hungary Los Altos, United States Lovech, Bulgaria Taiyuan, China-External links:* * * *...

 with her second husband, Vassili Rotchev and her daughter Olesya, and their daughter Vaselina who was born in February 2007; works as a sports instructor, and speaks fluent Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 and some German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

.

Skiing career

Debuting on the FIS
International Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...

 cross-country circuit in the 1995–1996 season, Chepalova has continually ranked in the Top 15 throughout her career (the lone exception is the 2002–2003 season, where she took maternity leave to have her daughter Olesya), finishing #1 overall in 2000–2001 (#3 in 2005–2006 with #1 in the distance category (greater than 5 km)). This includes success at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been held in various numbers and types of events since 1925 for men and since 1954 for women. Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined...

, with golds in the 4×5 km (2001) and 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit (2005), silvers in the 4×5 km and 10 km freestyle (both 2005), and bronzes in the Individual sprint (2001) and Team sprint (2005). Additionally, Chepalova has won the women's 30 km at the Holmenkollen ski festival
Holmenkollen ski festival
The Holmenkollen Ski Festival is a traditional annual Nordic skiing event in Holmenkollen, Oslo, Norway. The full official name of the event is Holmenkollen FIS World Cup Nordic. It takes place in March and has been arranged every year since 1892, except for 1898 and during World War II...

 three times (1999, 2004, and 2006), joining fellow Russian cross-country skier Larisa Lazutina
Larisa Lazutina
Larisa Evgenevna Lazutina is a former professional cross country skier who competed for Russia during several Winter Olympic Games. In the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, she won five medals in skiing events: three gold, a silver and a bronze...

 as the only three-time winners of the event. She earned the Holmenkollen medal
Holmenkollen medal
The Holmenkollen medal is Norwegian skiing's highest award for competitors. It signifies top placings in international championships and other international events, including the Holmenkollen events....

 in 2004.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics
1998 Winter Olympics
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice...

, Chepalova won the women's 30 km freestyle event in her Olympic debut, becoming the youngest winner of that event (and in women's cross country skiing). Four years later at the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

, Chepalova won a complete set of medals with gold in the Individual sprint, silver in the 10 km classical, and bronze in the 15 km freestyle. At the most recent Winter Olympics in Turin
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

, Chepalova would win two more medals with a gold in the 4×5 km and a silver in the 30 km freestyle mass start.

Chepalova was absent from the cross country skiing World Cup for the 2006–2007 season to pregnancy.

See also

  • Cross country skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics
  • Cross country skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics
  • Cross country skiing at the 2006 Winter Olympics
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK