Elena Evgenievna Minaeva (born February 17, 1972, Moscow, USSR) is a Russian basketball player who played as a center. Silver medalist of the World Championship, three-time champion of Russia, master of sports of international class.
Biography and career
Elena Minaeva became a pupil of the Moscow basketball school "Trinta" by parental will and her own will. Her career was not easy, and for this reason it is worthy of respect. She received an invitation to the Soviet Union cadet team in 1989. It was the European Championship in Romania, where Elena won the bronze medal. The very next year she became a member of the USSR junior team, it is in the national team that Elena fights for the European championship in Spain and wins. The famous athlete attracts the attention of famous coaches in the country.
When Elena graduated from a sports school, coach Tatyana Ovechkina invited a promising basketball player to Dynamo Moscow. Dynamo became the first and only Russian professional club for Elena and her career. Dynamo is her second family. All the team's successes, from the late 90s to the early 2000s, are inextricably linked with Minaeva: three-time champion of Russia, winner of 3 bronze medals of the Russian championship. Elena has achieved a club record for the most rebounds in one match (23). It was installed in the 1997/1998 season in the Dynamo-Energia match.
The most outstanding is the 1997/1998 season. The basketball player then won the first "gold" in the Russian championship, moreover, in the preliminary tournament Minaeva scored the most points (16, 4 on average) in the team in 30 matches, and in the final series against Uralmash she had the second result (13, 6 points). During the qualifying tournament for the 1999 European Championship, held in Israel, Elena made her debut. This happened on May 13, 1998 in a match against Yugoslavia as part of the Russian national team. Two weeks later, the basketball player becomes a member of the "world forum" in Germany. There she takes part in two games. In the games of the Russian national team, after these competitions, Elena did not take part.
The 2001/2002 season was Elena's last basketball season. It ends on a positive note: winning bronze medals against Dynamo - Energia, participation in the Ronchetti Cup semifinals. The last match with the French team "Tarbes" was a real benefit for Minaeva (21 points, 10 rebounds). But then fate decided in its own way: according to the results of the two matches played, Dynamo lacked four points to reach the final of the European Cup. Elena made her contribution to the development of Russian basketball unambiguously and indisputably.
Today Elena Minaeva works as a judge of the Moscow Collegium of Basketball Referees. She trains children with full dedication in the school of the Olympic reserve №49 "Trinta" (a specialized children's and youth school named after Yu. Ya. Ravinsky). Her education and work are always closely intertwined with basketball.
Personal life
Elena Minaeva does not advertise her personal life. Who her husband is is unknown. However, all Elena's friends are convinced that she is a wonderful wife.
Athlete's triumph
Sport for Elena is real creativity:
- World Championship 1998 - silver medalist
- 1990 - European champion among juniors
- 1989 European Cadet Championship - bronze medalist
- Year 1998, 1999, 2001 - champion of the Russian Federation
- Year 1995, 1997, 2002 - bronze medalist of the Russian Championship
- 2002 - Ronchetti Cup semi-finalist
