Career: BelGUT Gomel (Belarus-Div. 1, 1996-99), BelGUT-Vedritsa Gomel Region (1999-2000), Seminole Community College (USA-NJCAA, 2000-02), Wabash Walley (USA-NJCAA, 2002-03), West Virginia (USA-NCAA, 2003-06), Charlotte Sting (USA-WNBA, 2006), TEO Vilnius (Lithuania-LMKL, 2006-07), Estudiantes Madrid (Spain-LF, 2007), TEO Vilnius (Lithuania-LMKL, 2007-08), UMMC Ekaterinburg (Russia-Superleague, 2008-09)
Yelena Leuchanka gives Belarus an imposing presence under the basket on both sides of the court. An extremely gifted athlete who welcomes physical play, Yelena, like many of her teammates, honed her basketball skills playing for various colleges and universities in the USA. In 2006 she became the first Belarusian player ever to take part in a WNBA game. Her European career is currently at its peak as Leuchanka plays for the Russian giant UMMC Ekaterinburg sharing on-court time with fellow superstars Maria Stepanova and Sandrine Gruda. This season brought some serious additions to Leuchanka's trophy case. Her club won the Russian Superleague title, the Russian Cup and finished third in EuroLeague Women where Yelena averaged 5.3 points per game (on 54.9% shooting) and 4.8 rebounds per game. Leuchanka finished 10th in the voting for the FIBA Europe Women's Player of the Year award for 2008. She led her team in scoring at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
