Yelena Godina

Yelena Mikhailovna Godina ( _ru. Елена Михайловна Година) (born September 17, 1977 in Sverdlovsk) is a Russian volleyball player, who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at 2006 Volleyball World Championship in Japan and the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Godina is one of the few stars of one of the leading volleyball nations that plays abroad. After being a key player for "Uralochka Ekaterinburg", she moved to Turkey to play for Eczacıbaşı Istanbul, whom she reached the Final Four. At present, Godina is playing for Spanish "Tenerife Marichal". Besides winning the European Champions’ League title in 2004, she was also nominated the Most Valuable Player of the event.

Godina was born as the second child to her mother Olga and father Mihail Godin. It was her mother who led her to the municipal volleyball school “Children Volleyball Section” in her home town. In October 1991, she entered the professional club team coached by Nikolai Karpol, Uralochka Ekaterinburg, the Russian national champion from 1991 to 2001. Being a member of the Junior National Team, she helped her country to win the gold medal in the 1993 Junior World Championships and the 1994 Junior European Championships. Godina was honored as the Best Blocker.

In addition to the third place in the 1995 Junior World Championships, Godina was selected to play for the senior national team in her debut match against Germany in the BVC Montreux Volley Masters in May.

Notes

*Height: 1.95 m
*Weight: 73 kg

Individual Awards

* "1999 FIVB World Grand Prix "Best Blocker""
* "2005 European Championship "Best Spiker""
* "2006 World Championship "Best Server""