Yelizaveta Dementyeva took up both skiing and rowing during World War II, but it was her interest in the latter that led her to take up kayaking in 1952. She won several USSR titles from 1956 through 1960 and also excelled internationally, beginning with a gold medal in the K-1 500 at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. She then became European Champion in 1957 and World Champion in 1958, also snagging silver in the K-2 500 with Antonina Seredina in the latter tournament. She was European Champion again in 1959, in both the K-1 and K-2 500, the same year that she graduated from the Lesgaft Institute of Physical Education. Shortly thereafter, she took up coaching and subsequently retired from active competition. From 1968, she taught at Leningrad Industrial College.