Valentina Kovpan

Valentina Kovpan was one of the best female Soviet archers in the mid-1970s. During her career, Kovpan competed at the 1976 Olympics, in two World Championships (1973 and 1975), and in two European Championships (1976 and 1978). Kovpan won silver at the 1976 Olympics and was a two-time World team champion (1973 and 1975) and a three-time European champion, in 1976 in team and in 1978 in individual and team.

She also took individual silvers at the 1973 and 1975 World Championships and individual silver at the 1976 European Championships. Domestically, Kovpan won Soviet individual titles in 1973 and 1978 and team titles in 1970 and 1974. After her sporting career, Kovpan worked as a dentist, until 12 May 2006, when she left her home to go to work, but never arrived there and has not been seen since. The police speculated, she was a victim of kidnapping gone bad, but nothing definite was discovered. According to her son, she already had lived through an unsuccessful kidnapping attempt in 2002.