Elena Ivanova 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 former figure skater. She was the 1996 World Junior Champion

World Junior Figure Skating Championships

The World Junior Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which younger figure skaters compete for the title of World Junior Champion...

. Elena Ivanova started skating at the age of 6, when figure skating coach Nina Ruchkina visited her kindergarten

Kindergarten

A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 in search for talanted youth. She noticed Elena. Her parents approved skating, and Ivanova started to train under Nina Ruchkina. At the age of 10 she became Master of Sports of the USSR

Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR

Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR is a document which provided general Soviet physical education system requirements for athletes. The classification was established in 1935 and was based on separate classifications, which existed for several sports disciplines before...

 and gained a nickname "Iron Felix" because of her calmness on the ice. At the age of 15 she moved from Nevinnomyssk

Nevinnomyssk

Nevinnomyssk is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on both banks of the Kuban River at its confluence with the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River, south of Stavropol. Population: 132,141 ; 92,000 ; 40,000 ....

 to Samara

Samara, Russia

Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...

 and graduated from Samara's GUOR (figure skating faculty

Faculty (university)

A faculty is a division within a university comprising one subject area, or a number of related subject areas...

). Elena Ivanova had to retire from skating due to injury and switched to coaching. Since 2000 she is working in Vitebsk

Vitebsk

Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...

, Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

.

Results

Event	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
Russian Championships Russian Figure Skating Championships The Russian Figure Skating Championships are a figure skating national championship held annually to determine the national champions of Russia. Skaters compete at the senior level in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.The first Russian national...	4th	16th	7th
NHK Trophy NHK Trophy The NHK Trophy is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. Figure skaters compete in the disciplines of ladies' singles, men's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing....				11th
Finlandia Trophy Finlandia Trophy The Finlandia Trophy is an annual senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Finland. Skaters compete in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating and ice dancing, although not every discipline has been included in every year...	1st
Nebelhorn Trophy Nebelhorn Trophy The Nebelhorn Trophy is an international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain....	3rd			2nd
Skate Israel Skate Israel Skate Israel is a senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Metulla, Israel. Skaters compete in four disciplines: ladies and men's singles, pairs and ice dancing...		1st	1st