Olena Bilosiuk

Olena Bilosiuk (, née Olena Pidhrushna (; born 9 January 1987) is a Ukrainian biathlete. She is Olympic and World champion and multiple medalist in different high-level competitions. Pidhrushna is considered one of Ukraine's most successful winter sports athletes. She lives in Ternopil.

Career Her first international competition was 2005 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Monthey, Switzerland, where she won two bronze medals, and 2005 Biathlon Junior World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland. Next season she missed internationally, but on 2 March 2007, she debuted in Biathlon World Cup by finishing 44th in sprint in Lahti, Finland. She was enrolled in the national team for all three last World Cup stages that season but didn't gain any points. She didn't get a quota in the national team in 2007–08 season. That time she spent competing at Biathlon European Championships and junior competitions.

In 2008–09 season, she took part regularly in the relay team, and on 7 January 2009, she was in the winning relay team in German Oberhof.

She represented Ukraine at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Her best result at that Games was rank 12 in mass start.

2012–13 season became one of her most successful. In the first sprint race of that season on 1 December 2012, Olena finished third in Östersund, Sweden, and was second in pursuit in Italian Antholz-Anterselva in January 2013. Later on, Pidhrushna took a hat-trick of medals at the 2013 Biathlon World Championships, where she won the gold in the sprint, was part of the women's relay team which won silver, and secured a bronze in the pursuit. For these achievements, she was named Ukraine's best sportswoman of 2013. That season she ended ranking 8th in World Cup general classification.

2013–14 season started for her quite successfully, with one podium in January. Together with Juliya Dzhyma, Valj Semerenko and Vita Semerenko, she won the gold medal in the Women's relay at the 2014 Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia. Pidhrushna took a break in her sports career at the end of the 2013–14 season and was subsequently appointed Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports in the Ukrainian government. So she returned in November 2015. Her attempts to have a child were then unsuccessful. Later she divorced her husband.

She returned in 2015–16 season, which she started with two bronze medals in sprint and individual race in Swedish Östersund. In mid-February she won sprint in Canmore, Canada. That year she achieved her best World Cup ranking – 7. Next season Pidhrushna didn't have plenty of good results, and she missed all races in March.

She qualified to represent Ukraine at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Pidhrushna carried the Ukrainian flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Due to poor physical conditions, she didn't compete in any race.

Biathlon results Olympic Games 1 medal (1 gold) EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2010 Vancouver 32nd 18th 21st 12th 6th – 2014 Sochi 8th 26th 22nd 7th Gold – 2018 Pyeongchang Didn't compete 2022 Beijing––––7th–

World Championships 5 medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze)

World Cup Individual podiums Season Place Competition Placement 2012–13 Östersund, Sweden Sprint 2 Antholz, Italy Pursuit 2 2013–14 Oberhof, Germany Sprint 3 2015–16 Östersund, Sweden Individual 3 Östersund, Sweden Sprint 3 Canmore, Canada Sprint 1

Relay podiums Season Place Competition Placement 2008–09 Oberhof, Germany Relay 1 2010–11 Hochfilzen, Austria Relay 2 Pokljuka, Slovenia Mixed relay 2 2011–12 Kontiolahti, Finland Mixed relay 2 2012–13 Hochfilzen, Austria Relay 2 Oberhof, Germany Relay 1 Sochi, Russia Relay 2 2013–14 Östersund, Sweden Mixed relay 3 Hochfilzen, Austria Relay 1 Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France Relay 2 2015–16 Hochfilzen, Austria Relay 3 Ruhpolding, Germany Relay 1 Presque Isle, United States Relay 2 2016–17 Pokljuka, Slovenia Relay 3 2017–18 Hochfilzen, Austria Relay 2

Rankings Season Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Overall 2008–09 28 70 52 52 2009–10 15 31 32 26 29 2010–11 21 29 26 27 26 2011–12 10 36 51 30 32 2012–13 19 14 2013–14 22 19 34 31 28 2014–15 2015–16 12 2016–17 5 37 55 30 33 2017–18 61 35 52 2018–19 34 38 67 36 43 2019–20 67 27 21 27 25

Personal life Olena was born in Legnica, Poland, but she spent her childhood in Velyka Berezovytsia near Ternopil, Ukraine. Her family had to move because her father was a military officer.

She graduated from Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatyuk National Pedagogical University, where she studied physical training and sports. Now she is a Ph.D. student at Lviv State University of Physical Culture.

Pidhrushna married Oleksiy Kayda on 26 May 2013. Kayda is a member of Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) for the party Svoboda. According to Pidhrushna, her husband was attacked in December 2013 by "provocateurs" during the Euromaidan demonstrations. In October 2016 she declared that they divorced.

During the awarding ceremony after her victory in the women's relay in Hochfilzen on 8 December 2013, she and other Ukrainian biathletes shouted "For Maidan".

In summer 2021 Pidhrushna married the second time, with former Ukrainian cross-country skier Ivan Bilosiuk, but in January 2025 she declared that they divorced.