Olga Alekseyevna Zaitseva (Russian: Ольга Алексеевна Зайцева; born 16 May 1978) is a former Russian biathlete. She began her career in 1994. After not competing in the 2014–15 season, Zaitseva announced her retirement on 24 January 2015.[2] Shortly afterwards she announced that she had been appointed as caretaker head coach of the Russian biathlon team.[3]

Olga Zaitseva
Zaitseva at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin in 2010
Personal information
Full nameOlga Alekseyevna Zaitseva
Nickname"Bunny" (Russian: Зайка)
Born (1978-05-16) 16 May 1978 (age 46)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Websitewww.zajceva.ru
Professional information
SportBiathlon
ClubDynamo Moscow, CSKA Moscow[1]
World Cup debut12 February 2000
Retired24 January 2015
Olympic Games
Teams4 (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014)[1]
Medals3 (2 gold)
World Championships
Teams8 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Medals8 (3 gold)
World Cup
Seasons12 (1999/00,
2001/02–2005/06,
2008/09–2013/14)
Individual races174
All races208
Individual victories12
All victories26
Individual podiums37
All podiums60
Discipline titles1:
1 Mass start (2004–05)
Medal record
Women's biathlon
Representing  Russia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2006 Turin 4 × 6 km relay
Gold medal – first place 2010 Vancouver 4 × 6 km relay
Silver medal – second place 2010 Vancouver 12.5 km mass start
Disqualified 2014 Sochi 4 × 6 km relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2005 Hochfilzen 4 × 6 km relay
Gold medal – first place 2009 Pyeongchang 12.5 km mass start
Gold medal – first place 2009 Pyeongchang 4 × 6 km relay
Silver medal – second place 2005 Hochfilzen 7.5 km sprint
Silver medal – second place 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk Mixed relay
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Hochfilzen 10 km pursuit
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Pyeongchang 7.5 km sprint
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Pyeongchang 10 km pursuit
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Jericho/Valcartier Team
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Jericho/Valcartier Individual

Record

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Olympic Games

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Zaitseva has won two gold medals and one silver medal at the Winter Olympic Games.

On 1 December 2017, she was disqualified from the 2014 Winter Olympics for doping offences.[4] She appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2018.[5] After a postponement that lasted until 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld her disqualification; however, it lifted her lifetime ban from all Olympic Games.[6]

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay
  2002 Salt Lake City 37th
  2006 Torino 9th 19th 15th Gold
  2010 Vancouver 26th 7th 7th Silver Gold
  2014 Sochi DSQ (15th) DSQ (28th) DSQ (11th) DSQ (23rd) DSQ (2nd) DSQ (4th)

World Championships

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Zaitseva has won eight medals — three gold, two silver and three bronze. All her World Championship medals Zaitseva won in two Championships: 2005 Hochfilzen, Austria and 2009 Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Event Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay
  2003 Khanty-Mansiysk 32nd
  2004 Oberhof 49th 20th
  2005 Hochfilzen Silver Bronze 17th Gold Silver[b]
  2009 Pyeongchang 14th Bronze Bronze Gold Gold 5th
  2011 Khanty-Mansiysk 4th 12th 6th 8th 6th
  2012 Ruhpolding, Germany 6th 16th 7th DSQ 7th 5th
  2013 Nové Město 6th 4th 4th 5th 4th 6th

World Cup

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Olga Zaitseva Kontiolahti 2010

During her first 1999—2000 World Cup season, Zaitseva only appeared in one race, didn't scoring for the overall standings. Starting from the second half 2001—02 season, she became a regular in the Russian World Cup team. The best result is the 4th place in the 2004—05 season and winning the mass start discipline cup of the same season. All her results from the 2013-14 season after Sochi were voided due to doping offences.[7]

No. Season Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Overall
Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position Races Points Position
1 2001–02 1/4 4/8 24 44th 4/9 39 36th 1/3 16 31st 10/24 79 42nd
2 2002–03 2/3 50 14th 8/9 103 23rd 6/7 133 12th 3/4 10 36th 19/23 296 19th
3 2003–04 2/3 14 30th 8/10 208 11th 7/9 209 9th 4/4[c] 55 19th 21/26 489 10th
4 2004–05 2/4 20 36th 9/10 292 3rd 8/9 290 3rd 4/4[c] 136 1st 23/27 752 4th
5 2005–06 2/3 66 8th 8/10 165 15th 6/8 135 14th 4/5 77 14th 20/26 443 15th
6 2006–07 Temporary retirement from the sport due to marriage and childbirth.
7 2007–08
8 2008–09[d] 4/4[c] 113 5th 10/10[c] 308 7th 7/7[c] 219 7th 5/5[c] 162 4th 26/26[e] 834 6th
9 2009–10[d] 3/4 58 24th 9/10 281 7th 5/6 207 3rd 5/5[c] 154 5th 22/25 719 8th
10 2010–11[d] 3/4 138 3rd 8/10 242 13th 5/7 131 17th 4/5 131 11th 20/26 642 12th
11 2011–12[d] 2/3 70 6th 5/10 228 2nd 4/8 180 2nd 1/5 43 4th 12/26 521 3rd
*Key:Races—number of entered races/all races; Points—won World Cup points; Position—World Cup season ranking.
**2011–12 season in progress. Statistics as of 15 January 2012.[8][9]

World Cup wins

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Over the course of her career, Zaitseva has reached twelve personal World Cup wins. In the history of the International Biathlon Union she is ranked twelfth for all-time career victories. In addition, she has won twelve relay races and two mixed relay events as part of the Russian World Cup team.

Individual wins (13)
No. Date Location Discipline
1 5 December 2002 Östersund, Sweden Sprint
2 22 February 2003 Östersund, Sweden Individual
3 11 December 2004 Oslo – Holmenkollen, Norway Sprint
4 18 December 2004 Östersund, Sweden Pursuit
5 19 March 2005 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia Mass Start
6 27 November 2005 Östersund, Sweden Pursuit
7 22 February 2009 Pyeongchang, South Korea (WCH) Mass Start
8 19 March 2009 Trondheim, Norway Sprint
9 13 January 2011 Ruhpolding, Germany Individual
10 16 December 2011 Hochfilzen, Austria Sprint
11 17 December 2011 Hochfilzen, Austria Pursuit
12 13 January 2012 Nove Mesto, Czech Republic Sprint
13 6 January 2013 Oberhof, Germany Pursuit
Relay wins (14)
No. Date Location Discipline
1 16 January 2003 Ruhpolding, Germany Mixed Relay
2 13 February 2003 Oslo – Holmenkollen, Norway Relay
3 5 December 2004 Beitostølen, Norway Relay
4 12 January 2005 Ruhpolding, Germany Relay
5 13 February 2005 Torino – Cesana San Sicario, Italy Relay
6 11 March 2005 Hochfilzen, Austria (WCH) Relay
7 11 January 2006 Ruhpolding, Germany Relay
8 23 February 2006 Torino – Cesana San Sicario, Italy (OG) Relay
9 21 February 2009 Pyeongchang, South Korea (WCH) Relay
10 13 December 2009 Hochfilzen, Austria Relay
11 23 February 2010 Vancouver, Canada (OG) Relay
12 22 January 2011 Antholz – Anterselva, Italy Relay
13 18 December 2011 Hochfilzen, Austria Mixed Relay
14 4 January 2012 Oberhof, Germany Relay
  • Key:WCH—World Championships; OG—Olympic Games.
    • 2011–12 season in progress. Statistics as of 15 January 2012.[8]

Overall record

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As of January 2012, Zaitseva has competed in a total of 208 races at senior level, winning 26 of them (a 12.5 win percentage), including 174 races with 12 wins (a 6.9 win percentage) in individual events. She has claimed at least two wins in each discipline of biathlon. Zaitseva has reached a total of 60 World Cup podiums (28.8%): 37 in individual races (21.3%) and 23 in team events (67.6%). In addition, she has achieved 120 top ten finishes — 57.7% of all the races she has entered (including 88 top ten results (50.6%) in individual races).[8]

 
Olga Zaitseva strive for victory on 19 March 2009
Result Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass Start Relay Mixed Relay Total
Individual events Team events All events
1st Place 2 5 3 2 12 2 12 14 26
2nd Place 2 3 4 2 5 1 11 6 17
3rd Place 7 6 1 3 14 3 17
Podiums 4 15 13 5 20 3 37 23 60
Top 10 9 35 29 15 25 7 88 32 120
Points 16 61 50 29 25 7 156 32 188
Other 5 9 2 2[f] 2[g] 18 2 20
Starts 21 70 52 31 27 7 174 34 208
*Results in all IBU World Cup races. Statistics as of 15 January 2012.[8]

Achievements and honours

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Olga Zaitseva with the President of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev at the awards ceremony in the Kremlin in March 2010

Sport titles

  • Winter Olympics
    • 2010 – Gold medal in the Relay, silver medal in the 12.5 km Mass Start
    • 2006 – Gold medal in the Relay
  • World Championships
    • 2009 – Gold medal in the 12.5 km Mass Start and Relay, bronze in the 7.5 km Sprint and 10 km Pursuit
    • 2005 – Gold medal in the Relay, silver in the 7.5 km Sprint and Mixed Relay and bronze in the 10 km Pursuit.
  • Mass Start World Cup winner — 2004–05

State Decorations and Awards

Other Awards

  • The Best Russian Athlete of the Year according to the vote at Sportbox.ru — 2011.[13]

Personal life

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Zaitseva has two sisters: Elena (b. 1976) and Oksana (b. 1973), who was her coach.[14]

On 30 September 2006, Zaitseva married Milan Augustin, a Slovakian biathlon coach; they had a son Aleksandr in 2007,[15] but divorced in 2013.[16] In October 2015, Zaitseva gave birth to her second son Stepan. Around that time, she stopped coaching and was employed as a consultant for the Russian biathlon team. She was expected to return to coaching in 2016.[17]

Notes

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a. 1 2 The mixed relay, contested for the first time in the World Championships, was held in 2005.
b. 1 The mixed relay was held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
c. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Until 2010—11 season it was required to leave out the result of the worst discipline race for the final result of discipline world cup (if there were four discipline races or more during the season), so the points in respective columnes «Points» is represented after deduction of the result of the worst discipline race.
d. 1 2 3 4 Since 2008—09 season it was applied another points system in World Cup. Earlier biathlete got 50 points for win and top-30 was awarded. Now World Cup give 60 points and top-40 awarded.
e. 1 Until 2010—11 season it was required to leave out the results of the three worst races for the final result of overall world cup, so the points in respective column «Points» is represented after deduction of the results of the three worst discipline races.
f. 1 Did not finish (DNF).
g. 1 Disqualified (DSQ).

References

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  1. ^ a b Olga Zaytseva. sports-reference.com
  2. ^ Paone, Francesco (24 January 2015). "Olga Zaitseva back on his feet and decides to retire". Snowalps. Neve Italia. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. ^ Rogovitskiy, Dmitriy (30 January 2015). Grohmann, Karolos (ed.). "Olympic champion Zaitseva named Russia caretaker coach". reuters.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  4. ^ Full decision regarding Olga Zaytseva at International Olympic Committee
  5. ^ "Meet the Russian Winter Olympians fighting to clear their names". CNN. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Anti-Doping – Biathlon – Olympic Games Sochi 2014" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Berger and Mäkäräinen both get 2013-2014 Biathlon World Cup crystal globes after doping ban changed points total". Inside the games. 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d Olga Zaitseva. IBU Profile
  9. ^ Cup Standings. biathlonresults.com
  10. ^ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 5 марта 2010 года № 278 «О награждении государственными наградами Российской Федерации» Archived 26 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  11. ^ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 22 февраля 2007 года № 204 (in Russian)
  12. ^ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 17 января 2003 года № 43 (in Russian)
  13. ^ «Золотой пьедестал»: Зайцева – лучший спортсмен России 2011 года! – SportBox.ru (in Russian)
  14. ^ Оксана Рочева: «Ольга Зайцева бережет всех своих зайцев». trud.ru. 21 January 2010
  15. ^ Babei, Vitold (18 March 2007) Сын чемпионки. gazeta.ru.
  16. ^ Ольга Зайцева развелась с мужем. eurosport.ru. 4 August 2013
  17. ^ Двукратная олимпийская чемпионка по биатлону Зайцева во второй раз стала матерью. tass.ru. 17 October 2015
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