Silver (2000)

Elena Viatcheslavovna Dementieva (Russian: Елена Вячеславовна Дементьева, jɪˈlʲenə dʲɪˈmʲentjɪvə (help·info); born 15 October 1981) is a Russian professional tennis player, who has won one Olympic medals in singles, including the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Her performance at the Olympics is the strongest of any competitor in recent times, with an 11–2 record. She has also reached the finals of two Grand Slam events. Her career high ranking was World No. 3 which she achieved on April 6, 2009. As of 12 October 2009, she is ranked World No. 5.

Dementieva was born in Moscow to Viatcheslav, an electrical engineer, and Vera, a teacher, both recreational tennis players. She was rejected by Dynamo Sports Club and the Central Red Army Tennis Club at the age of 7, before enrolling at Spartak Tennis Club, where she was coached for 3 years by Rauza Islanova, the mother of Marat Safin and Dinara Safina. She then moved to the Central Red Army Club with Sergei Pashkov, when she was 11. She is now coached by her mother Vera and her older brother Vsevolod. She has homes in Monaco, Moscow and Boca Raton, Florida, and enjoys snowboarding, baseball, reading and traveling.