Elena Belova

"Yelena Belova-Novikova" redirects here; not to be confused with Yelena Belova or Elena Novikova.

For other people named Elena Belova, see Elena Belova (disambiguation).

Elena Belova

Elena Belova c. 1974
Personal information
Full name	Elena Dmitriyevna Novikova-Belova (née Novikova)
Born	(1947-07-28) 28 July 1947 Sovetskaya Gavan, Khabarovsk Kray, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
Sport	Fencing
Club	Dynamo Minsk Army Club Minsk
Medal record Representing Soviet Union Olympic Games 1968 Mexico City Individual foil 1968 Mexico City Team foil 1972 Munich Team foil 1976 Montreal Team foil 1976 Montreal Individul foil 1980 Moscow Team foil Pierre de Coubertin medal 2007 World Championships 1969 Havana Individual foil 1970 Ankara Team foil 1971 Vienna Team foil 1974 Grenoble Team foil 1975 Budapest Team foil 1977 Buenos Aires Team foil 1978 Hamburg Team foil 1979 Melbourne Team foil 1969 Havana Team foil 1970 Ankara Individual foil 1973 Gothenburg Team foil 1977 Buenos Aires Individual foil Summer Universiade 1970 Turin Team foil 1973 Moscow Team foil 1973 Moscow Individual foil

Elena Dmitriyevna Novikova-Belova (Russian: Елена Дмитриевна Новикова-Белова, née Novikova, born 28 July 1947) is a retired Russian foil fencer, known professionally simply as Elena Belova. She competed at the 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 Olympics in the individual and team events and won four gold, one silver and one bronze medal, becoming the first female fencer to win four Olympic gold medals. She nearly won a fifth gold in 1976, but lost her last pool match to the last-placed fencer. Belova also won eight world titles, individually in 1969, and with the Soviet team in 1970–1979.

Shortly before the 1968 Olympics, she married Vyacheslav Belov, a future world champion in modern pentathlon, and hyphenated her last name from Novikova to Novikova-Belova. She retired after the 1980 Olympics, and gave birth in 1987, aged 40. After divorcing Belov, she married her second husband, composer Valery Ivanov, who devoted a waltz to her, while keeping the surname Novikova-Belova.

In 1970, Belova graduated from the Minsk Institute of Pedagogy, she holds a PhD in this discipline. In 1997 she was awarded the Olympic Order in Silver, and in 2007 the Pierre de Coubertin Medal. On 14 May 2021, Jovian asteroid 24426 Belova, discovered by astronomers with the LINEAR program in 2000, was named in her honor.

External links

• Elena Novikova-Belova at Olympics.com
• Yelena Novikova-Belova at Olympedia
• Yelena Belova (Novikova) at the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus