Elena Glebova was born on June 16, 1989 in Tallinn. Elena`s father is Russian and he is originally from Tver, her mother is of Finnish nationality. Elena and her brother Ilja were born and raised in Estonia and they are Estonian citizens.

Elena has been practicing figure skating since she was five years old and you can pretty much blame her brother for going into this sport. Growing up, Ilja was often sick and therefore the doctors suggested him to take up sports, preferably winter sports. Since Elena`s mother has always loved figure skating she decided to take her son to practice. One day Elena went to practice with him and immediately fell in love with skating. In her mind, figure skating is one of the most beautiful sports and it is now pretty much the meaning of her life. «I was mostly fascinated by the speed, the jumps and the feeling of flying,» she admits.

On March 25, 1999 at the age of ten Elena landed her first Double Axel for. When Elena was 12 she met a well-known figure skating coach Anna Levandi in a supermarket by chance. She approached the coach and asked if she could start practicing with her. Levandi liked Elena`s personality. «She was able to do different jumps, not high, but still, so I decided to take her to my club, I really liked her,» Levandi recalls. Anna Levandi won the silver medal at world championships in 1984, she has won four bronze medals at European championships and she is 3-time Soviet Union champion. She represented the Soviet Union at the 1984 Winter Olympics, where she placed 5th, and again at the 1988 Winter Olympics, where she placed 8th.

After two years of cooperation one could already see the results - at the age of 14 Elena won the Estonian championships at senior level, beating girls who were older and more experienced than her.

«Of course we don`t always agree on everything but we always try to find a compromise. We both hava a very strong character. I have an opinion about everything, but because I really respect Anna and appreciate everything she`s doing for me, she respects and appreciates my opinion. Our relationship has gotten better and better over the years,» Elena explains. «Anna is one of the best gifts life has given me. If she hadn`t married Allar Levandi (Estonian nordic combined skier), there wouldn`t be a figure skater Elena Glebova.»

Due to a busy practice schedule Elena switched schools after 9th grade. In high school she went to Audentes, which is a school for athletes, their programme enables athletes to acquire education and practice sports at the same time. «During the three years in high school, this was what my normal day looked like: three hours at shcool in the morning, then practice, then back to school for three hours and then evening practice. But I liked this schedule. I have always liked going to school, because I`ve had good friends there and I liked the company, besides I gained a lot of knowledge in Audentes,» admits Elena.

Elena is currently studying coreography in Tallinn University. «I was always so sure that I want to study clothing design, but when I seriously thought about it I realised that I`m not going to be kind of Giorgio Armani. I`m really happy I chose coreography, because it is not only interesting, it is also good for my growth and my future. 80 % of my studies are different dance classes. Almost every subject is my favourite. For example Ireally like Broadway hip-hop, contemporary dance, classical jazz, improvisation, yoga, pilates, classical dance, etc. What I like the most is that I do not have to sit behind a desk the whole day and listen to a lecture. Of course, it`s not easy to do all this and two practices a day, but I can usually handel it. Probably because I like what I do. Besides dancing I`m also learning French and improving my English,» speaks Elena about her student life.

Since season 2003/2004 Elena is representing Estonia at ISU international competitions. Probably everyone has noticed her ongoing improvement every year. «The year I made my debut at the European and the World Championships was a tough period in my life. I was in real trouble in practices, nothing seemed to work. But everything changed after the Olympic games in Turin. The Olympics gave me a huge boost and it was a great experience for me. When I competed at the World Junior Championships two weeks later, I remember thinking «What a children`s competition is it?» That ended the tough period in my life and I was happy again to go to practice. Since then I have continuously improved as a figure skater,» Elena recalls.