Press releases

MINSK, 7 January (BelTA) – Belarus team of Nadezhda Skardino, Anastasia Duborezova, Nadezhda Pisareva and Darya Domracheva finished third behind the Czech Republic and France in the Women’s 4x6km relay at the IBU World Cup Biathlon in Oberhof, BelTA has learned.

Nadezhda Skardino started strong and did an excellent job in the shooting range. Anastasia Duborezova started the second leg in fourth, trailing 8.2 seconds behind the leader. Anastasia Duborezova was running at a good pace but made four misses at the shooting range and fell by exactly one minute behind the leaders. Nadezhda Pisareva was struggling in the shooting range and earned a penalty when shooting standing. It would seem Belarus lost all medal chances. However, the team leader, three-time Olympic champion Darya Domracheva seemed not to notice the lagging time and 10 competitors ahead. Thanks to the amazing speed on the track and good shooting Darya moved her team to the third place.

Women 4x6km relay:

1. Czech Republic-1:16 56.0 seconds.

2. France +8.9 s.

3. Belarus +1 min. 6.8 sec.

It was the second women’s relay race this season. Germany won the first one held in Hochfilzen with Belarus finishing second, ahead of the Czech Republic.

The men's 4x7.5km relay will be held on 8 January. Russia was victorious in Hochfilzen, France was second and Norway finished third. Belarusian team of Alexander Dorozhko, Vladimir Chepelin, Dmitry Budilovich and Yuri Liadov were very far from the leaders.

The Oberhof World Cup has four more individual races: Women’s 7.5km Sprint with two shooting bouts on 9 January; Men’s 10km Sprint with four shooting bouts on 10 January; Women’s 12.5km Mass Start and Men’s 15km Mass Start on 11 January.

After three world cups Kaisa Makarainen of Finland is the leader with 422 points. Valentina Semerenko goes second with 328 points and Darya Domracheva of Belarus is third with 306 points. Nadezhda Skardino has 182 points and is 15th in the overall standings. Nadezhda Pisareva is 41st with 54 points and Anastasia Duborezova is 48th with 36 points.