Valentina Stenina

Valentina Sergeyevna Stenina (Russian: Валентина Серге́евна Стенина; born 29 December 1934) is a former speed skater who competed for the Soviet Union.

Born Valentina Miloslavova in Babruysk (which is now part of Belarus), she fled to Sverdlovsk – taken by her mother – in 1941 because of World War II.

In Sverdlovsk, she took up speed skating, training at VSS Trud, and met and married fellow skater Boris Stenin.

The following year (1961), Stenina successfully defended her World Champion title in a grand way with victories in three distances and a second place in the fourth.

Later that month, she won the Soviet National Championships – a title she would win a total number of four times in her career (in 1961, 1965, 1966, and 1967).

Valentina Stenina in 1967