Yelena Berezhnaya nació el 11 de octubre de 1977 en Nevinnomyssk, Stavropol Krai, Russian SFSR, USSR [ahora Russia]. Ha estado casada con Steven Cousins.
Took karate lessons and art classes while living in Hackensack, New
Jersey. Elena even sketched a portrait of President Vladimir Putin at
an athlete reception following the 2002 Olympics and gave it to him!
