Kristina Šmigun-Vähi Explained

Kristina Šmigun-Vähi
Birth Date:23 February 1977
Birth Place:Tartu, Estonia
Height:168cm (66inches)
Club:Oti Sportclub
Seasons:16 – (19932007, 2010)
Wins:16
Totalpodiums:50
Teampodiums:0
Individual Starts:179
Team Starts:20
Wcoveralls:0 – (2nd in 2000 and 2003)
Wctitles:2 – (1, 1)
Updated:27 January 2019
Show-Medals:no

Kristina Šmigun-Vähi (born 23 February 1977) is a former Estonian female cross-country skier and politician. She is the most successful Estonian female cross-country skier with two Olympic gold medals. In 2019 she was elected as a Member of the Estonian Parliament.[1]

Career

On 12 February 2006, she won the Winter Olympics gold medal for the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit, becoming the first Estonian woman to win a medal at the Winter Olympics. Four days later, she won a second gold medal in the 10 km classical.

On 15 February 2010, she won her third Olympic medal, a silver in the 10 km freestyle race. With two golds and one silver, Šmigun-Vähi is the most successful Estonian athlete in Olympic history (summer or winter), tying the record of men's cross-country skier Andrus Veerpalu.

Šmigun-Vähi has also found success at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, earning six medals. This included one gold (2003: 5 km + 5 km double pursuit), three silvers (1999: 15 km, 2003: 10 km, 15 km), and two bronzes (1999, 2003: both in 30 km).

On 2 July 2010, Šmigun-Vähi announced that she will quit her professional sport career to focus on her family and her daughter Victoria-Kris. On 24 October 2016, the World Anti-Doping Agency Athletes' Commission stated that Šmigun-Vähi faced a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing before the end of October.[2]

Personal life

She is the daughter of former cross-country skiers Rutt and Anatoli Šmigun. Her sister Katrin Šmigun and cousin Aivar Rehemaa were also cross-country skiers.

Šmigun-Vähi is married to her long-time manager Kristjan-Thor Vähi, She missed the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons due to pregnancy. She has two children, daughter born in 2008 and son born in 2011.[3]

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[4]

Olympic Games

 Year  Age  5 km  10 km  15 km  Pursuit  30 km  Sprint  4 × 5 km 
 relay 
 Team 
 sprint 
17
21
25
29
33

World Championships

 Year   Age   5 km  10 km  15 km  Pursuit  30 km  Sprint   4 × 5 km 
 relay 
 Team 
 sprint 
18 5 20
20 28 8 9
22 9 Silver 6 Bronze
24 12 41 19
26 Silver Silver GoldBronze
28 414 13
30 10 6 15

a. Cancelled due to extremely cold weather.

World Cup

Season titles

Season
Discipline
Long Distance
 Middle Distance 

Season standings

 Season  Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standings
OverallDistanceLong DistanceMiddle DistanceSprintTour de
Ski
World Cup
Final
16
17 60
18 29
19 17
20 13 21 15
21 19 15 27
22 4
23
24 10 23
25 4 24
26 41
27 5 47
28 4 70
29 17 11 38
30 11 5
33 32 22 84 6

Individual podiums

No.SeasonDateLocationRaceLevelPlace
1 1998–9927 December 1998 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 1.0 km Sprint F World Cup 2nd
2 5 January 1999 Otepää, Estonia 10 km C Individual World Cup 3rd
3 12 January 1999 Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km F Mass Start World Cup 1st
4 " align=right19 February 1999 Ramsau, Austria 15 km F Mass Start World Championships2nd
5 " align=right27 February 1999 30 km C Mass Start World Championships3rd
6 20 March 1999 Oslo, Norway 30 km F Mass Start World Cup 3rd
7 1999–20005 December 1999 Kiruna, Sweden 5 km C Individual World Cup 3rd
8 10 December 1999 Sappada, Italy 10 km F Individual World Cup 1st
9 28 December 1999 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 1.5 km F Sprint World Cup 1st
10 8 January 2000 Moscow, Russia 15 km F Mass Start World Cup 2nd
11 12 January 2000 Nové Město, Czech Republic 15 km F Mass Start World Cup 2nd
12 16 February 2000    Ulrichen, Switzerland 5 km C Individual World Cup 1st
13 20 February 2000 Lamoura Mouthe, France 44 km F Mass Start World Cup 2nd
14 3 March 2000 Lahti, Finland 1.2 km Sprint F World Cup 1st
15 2000–0129 November 2000 Beitostølen, Norway 5 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
16 20 December 2000    Davos, Switzerland 15 km C Mass Start World Cup 3rd
17 2001–0225 November 2001 Kuopio, Finland 5 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
18 12 December 2001 Brusson, Italy 10 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
19 15 December 2001    Davos, Switzerland 10 km C Individual World Cup 2nd
20 22 December 2001 Ramsau, Austria 15 km F Mass Start World Cup 1st
21 2 March 2002 Lahti, Finland 10 km F Individual World Cup 1st
22 16 March 2002 Oslo, Norway 30 km F Mass Start World Cup 2nd
23 2002–0323 November 2002 Kiruna, Sweden 5 km F Individual World Cup 1st
24 30 November 2002 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km C Individual World Cup 2nd
25 7 December 2002    Davos, Switzerland 10 km F Individual World Cup 2nd
2614 December 2002 Cogne, Italy 10 km C Mass Start World Cup 2nd
27 " align=right21 December 2002 Ramsau, Austria 5 km + 5 km C/F Pursuit World Cup 3rd
28 4 January 2003 Kavgolovo, Russia 5 km F Individual World Cup 1st
29 12 January 2003 Otepää, Estonia 15 km C Mass Start World Cup 2nd
30 18 January 2003 Nové Město, Czech Republic 10 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
31 2003–0422 November 2003 Beitostølen, Norway 10 km F Individual World Cup 1st
32 28 November 2003 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km C Individual World Cup 2nd
3329 November 2003 7.5 km + 7.5 km C/F Pursuit World Cup 1st
346 December 2003 Toblach, Italy 15 km F Mass Start World Cup 1st
35 " align=right20 December 2003 Ramsau, Austria 10 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
3621 December 2003 7.5 km + 7.5 km C/F Pursuit World Cup 1st
376 January 2004 Falun, Sweden 7.5 km + 7.5 km C/F Pursuit World Cup 3rd
38 10 January 2004 Otepää, Estonia 15 km C Mass Start World Cup 2nd
39 2004–0520 November 2004 Gällivare, Sweden 10 km C Individual World Cup 2nd
40 26 November 2004 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km F Individual World Cup 2nd
4128 November 2004 10 km C Individual World Cup 1st
42 11 December 2004 Lago di Tesero, Italy 7.5 km + 7.5 km C/F Pursuit World Cup 2nd
4318 December 2004 Ramsau, Austria 15 km F Mass Start World Cup 1st
44 2005–0627 November 2005 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
45 7 January 2006 Otepää, Estonia 10 km C Individual World Cup 2nd
46 2006–0718 November 2006 Gällivare, Sweden 10 km F Individual World Cup 2nd
47 26 November 2006 Rukatunturi, Finland 10 km C Individual World Cup 3rd
48 11 March 2007 Lahti, Finland 10 km C Individual World Cup 1st
49 2009–1012 December 2009    Davos, Switzerland 10 km F Individual World Cup 3rd
5021 March 2010 Falun, Sweden 10 km F Pursuit Stage World Cup 3rd
Note: Until the 1999 World Championships, World Championship and Olympic races were included in the World Cup scoring system.

Overall record

ResultDistance RacesSprintSki
Tours
Individual
Events
  Team Events[5] All
Events
≤ 5 km ≤ 10 km≤ 15 km ≤ 30 km≥ 30 km PursuitTeam Sprint  Relay
1st place 3 5 4 2 2 16 16
2nd place 9 5 1 1 1 1 18 18
3rd place 3 8 1 2 2 16 16
Podiums 6 22 10 3 1 5 3 50 50
Top 10 16 46 18 7 1 13 8 1 110 12 122
Points 27 57 27 9 2 19 22 1 164 1 19 184
Others 2 2 1 4 9 9
1 1 1
align=left Starts 29 59 27 9 2 20 26 2 174 1 19 194

a. Classification is made according to FIS classification.

b. Includes individual and mass start races.

c. Includes pursuit and double pursuit races.

d. May be incomplete due to lack of appropriate sources for some relay races prior to 1995/96 World Cup season.Note: Until 1999 World Championships and 1994 Olympics, World Championship and Olympic races were part of the World Cup. Hence results from those races are included in the World Cup overall record.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kristina Šmigun-Vähi: tunnen ennast poliitikas nagu päike . 25 December 2019 . ERR . 10 March 2020.
  2. Web site: Šmigun-Vähi facing CAS hearing after "positive" retest at Turin 2006. Butler. Nick. 24 Oct 2016. Dunsar Media Company Limited. INSIDETHEGAMES.BIZ. 2016-10-24.
  3. Web site: Palju õnne! Kristina Šmigun-Vähi sai poja! . Delfi . 10 March 2020.
  4. Web site: SMIGUN-VAEHI Kristina . . FIS-Ski . International Ski Federation . 31 December 2019.
  5. Web site: Kristina Smigun-Vähi. SkiSport365. 27 March 2018.