Natalia Valeeva is a former international archer representing Italy.

She is recognised as one of the best archer athletes since the sport’s reintroduction to the Olympic Games in 1972. Her sporting career spanned three decades, seven individual world titles and six Olympic Games.

Valeeva made her international debut in 1989, representing the Soviet Union, and won her first indoor world title in 1991, a crown she’d win another four times during her career.

She made the final of the World Archery Indoor Championships for the second and third consecutive times in 1993 and 1995, under the Moldovan flag, losing in ‘93 but securing world title number two in ‘95. Five months later, she’d make it three.

She won her first outdoor title in 1995, then a second one twelve years later, in 2007.

Natalia represented Italy from 1996 to her retirement, and became World Archery Indoor Champion a further three times during that period (1999, 2001, 2012). She also won two team world titles – one indoor, one outdoor – with the Italian recurve women.

She competed at all six Olympic Games from 1992 to 2012, and won a pair of bronze medals in the individual and team events in her debut in Barcelona.

After winning a pair of gold medals at the first European Games in Baku in 2015, she was preparing to make a run at a seventh Olympic Games in Rio but did not find the level she needed to make the team. 

Valeeva retired from competition in June 2016 and turned to coaching.

She was elected to the World Archery coaches committee in July 2023.