Raisa Smetanina

Raisa Smetanina is still called the queen of the ski track. The athlete deserves a high title, because she remains the record holder for the number of awards among compatriots in the entire history of the Winter Olympic Games.

The Soviet skier has won 26 world championships and Olympics awards. Raisa Petrovna stayed at her sports peak for 20 years, participated in five winter Olympic competitions, became a 4-time champion of the games and 4-time world champion.

Smetanina is one of the most successful racers in the history of skiing. During her lifetime, the athlete's museum was opened and the republican ski complex in the capital of Komi was named after her. At the suggestion of the International Olympic Committee, Raisa Smetanina was awarded the Coubertin Medal, or, as it is also called, the Medal of the True Spirit of Sport.

The future queen of the ski track was born in 1952 in the Komi Republic. Raisa spent her childhood in the village of Mokhcha in a large family, where seven offspring were growing up - 5 boys and 2 girls. The head of the family is a hereditary reindeer herder.

Skis for children, as well as for adults, were the main means of transportation on the snow-covered tundra, so the girl learned to ride as soon as she got to her feet. Raisa Smetanina took over the science of skiing from her older brothers: at first the girl repeated the movements, but soon left the teachers behind.

An important role in Smetanina's future sports career was played by the village school in Mokhcha, or rather, its director Stepan Panteleev. He and his counterpart Alexander Filippov, a colleague from the neighboring village of Bakur, organized ski tournaments between schools. The serious approach of the two directors to competitions and the level of training of young athletes is evidenced by the result: Mokhcha and Bakur gave the country two ski champions - Rais Smetanin and Vasily Rochev.

A promising young athlete from Mokhchi was noticed and selected to the regional team. Soon, the skier took part in the championship of the republic among juniors, which took place in Pechora, and took second place. Raisa, a graduating student, was invited to study at the Syktyvkar Agrarian University, but the girl chose a technical school that trained future teachers.

In Syktyvkar, Smetanina fell into the hands of a professional mentor, German Kharitonov, who turned a diamond into a diamond.

In 1970, having left the walls of the technical school as a certified teacher, the athlete entered the national team of the Harvest Society. A year later, Raisa Smetanina announced herself in Murmansk at the national championship. After the performance, the mentor of the all-Union national team - Honored Coach of the USSR Viktor Ivanov - included the 19-year-old athlete from Komi in the main team.

The debut in the national team was not crowned with a triumph: Smetanina did not qualify for the 1972 winter games in Sapporo. But the coach and 10-year-old colleague, Galina Kulakova, who won Olympic silver in Grenoble in 1968, helped Raisa to believe in herself and build up her skills. An athlete from Komi went to the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck in 1976 as a world champion: two years earlier, Raisa Smetanina won gold and silver in the Swedish Falun.

The Russian skier got off to a good start: at a 5-kilometer distance, she let a Finnish athlete go ahead. But in the 10-kilometer race and in the relay she was in the lead and won 2 gold medals for the country, the first in her sports biography. It was a triumph, but Smetanina was upset that she just fell short and brought only 2 gold awards instead of 3.

In 1980, Raisa Smetanina went to the second Winter Olympics in her life, which was held in the United States. In Lake Placid, the 28-year-old skier won gold for the 5-kilometer race and silver for the relay.

In the early 1980s, an athlete who was approaching the 30-year mark was preparing a worthy change, like Galina Kulakova earlier. At the Games in Yugoslavia in 1984, the queen of the tracks took two silver awards. The athlete did not get gold in Calgary either: Raisa Smetanina brought home silver and bronze from Canada, for the first time she did not get into the relay race.

Before the games in France in 1992, the 40-year-old champion found a place in the national team. Then ill-wishers and young skiers, stepping on the heels of the star, whispered about the past merits of the athlete, which allegedly became the reason why Smetanina was taken to the main team. They were replaced by a young growth - strong and ambitious: Lyubov Egorova, Elena Vyalbe, Larisa Lazutina.

From Albertville, Raisa Smetanina brought the last, fourth, Olympic gold for leadership in the team relay, putting a beautiful end to her career and securing an age record that has not been broken by anyone so far. Together with her, compatriots Yegorova, Vyalbe and Lazutina took part in the race for the united team of the former republics of the Soviet Union.

With the collapse of the USSR, the career of the famous skier ended. Smetanina still has another record: she is the first and as of 1992 the only skier who managed to bring medals from five White Olympics in a row.

In the year the star of ski slopes was parting with great sport, the government of the republic announced a gift to the countrywoman who made Komi famous: a house in Syktyvkar. Raisa Smetanina was handed the keys to it in the spring of 1997, and in the summer in the same house - on the 1st floor - the Olympic champion's museum was opened. On the official website of the museum-exposition, you can register and get on a tour.

Two years later, the museum received the status of a republican one; its exposition contains materials about the achievements in skiing of all people from Komi. In 1997, one of the best ski resorts in Russia was opened in Syktyvkar, giving the stadium the name of Raisa Smetanina. Every year, national championships are held on 100 km of the prepared track.

The most titled skier devoted her youth and years of youth to the service of sports, without creating a family. Sport was and remains the main thing in the life of Raisa Petrovna. The family of Raisa Smetanina is the children she prepares for cross-country skiing. The queen of the track has nephews who have replaced their own children.

In 2017, the skiing star celebrated its 65th anniversary. Today, the titled athlete coaches the women's team, passing on the accumulated knowledge and experience of young people.

In 2018, the Watchmojo portal made the top ten most famous participants in the White Olympics, putting the four-time Olympic champion on the 5th step. Bjorn Delhi, eight-time Olympic champion from Norway, topped the rating.

1974 - World Championships in Falun. Gold medal (5 km) 1976 - Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Silver medal (5 km) 1976 - Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Gold medal (10 km) 1976 - Olympic Games in Innsbruck. Gold medal (4x5 km relay) 1978 - World Championships in Lahti. Silver medal (10 km) 1978 - World Championship in Lahti. Silver medal (20 km) 1980 - Olympic Games in Lake Placid. Gold Medal (5 km) 1980 - Olympic Games in Lake Placid. Silver medal (4x5 km relay) 1982 - World Championships in Oslo. Gold medal (20 km) 1982 - World Championships in Oslo. Silver medal relay (4 × 5 km) 1984 - Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Silver medal (10 km) 1984 - Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Silver medal (20 km) 1985 - World Championship in Seefeld. Gold medal relay (4 × 5 km) 1988 - Olympic Games in Calgary. Silver medal (10 km) 1989 - World Championship in Lahti. Silver medal relay (4 × 5 km) 1991 - World Championships in Val di Fiemme. Gold medal (relay 4 × 5 km) 1992 - Olympic Games in Albertville. Gold medal (relay race 4x5 km)

Raisa Smetanina 's estimated Net Worth, Salary, Income, Cars, Lifestyles & many more details have been updated below.

Let's check, How Rich is Raisa Smetanina in 2020 ?

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2021

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $ 1.6M in 2021. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $ 734K - $ 1.9M.

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2020

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $1.6M in 2020. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $745.6K - $1.4M.

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2019

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $1.7M in 2019. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $649.2K - $1.4M.

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2018

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $1.4M in 2018. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $937.9K - $1.4M.

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2017

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $1.3M in 2017. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $526.4K - $1.2M.

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2016

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $1M in 2016. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $783K - $1.4M.

Raisa Smetanina Net Worth 2015

Raisa Smetanina 's revenue is $1.3M in 2015. It is an approximate forecast of how rich is Raisa Smetanina and could vary in the range between $866.8K - $2M.

It is an overall forecast for the net worth of Raisa Smetanina. The evaluation covers the latest 5 years and an approximation for next year. See above to learn how much money does Raisa Smetanina makes a year.

The range above shows an estimation based on evaluation generated by public information about sponsorships or other sources found on the internet. It's summarized data from Raisa Smetanina's projects existing in AidWiki's repository. It's an approximation of the revenue compiled by AidWiki and may not correspond with the real amount.