By Kirill Pirogov
Of course, the men’s team has also seen a great deal of disappointment and even her colleagues on the women’s team have failed to see much success; Nadezhda Skardino has done best, but can’t seem to climb higher than 15th place.
Domracheva dispersed the gathering clouds by covering 12.5 km (and four firing points) with the quickest result of the day. At the first shooting range — from a prone position — she missed once and had to take a penalty loop. Another followed after the final shooting range. However, everyone seemed to be suffering the same inaccuracy, allowing her to take the lead with a fast ski. “No matter how low you may be, you can always climb back to the top. Anything can happen,” she smiles.
Darya asserts that she’s learnt something from this championship. With three more stages of the World Cup ahead, she could still come out on top. She notes, “Fans have the right to speculate. I tend not to follow the World Cup standings, preferring to simply concentrate on myself: my mistakes and how I can rectify them. I’ll look at rankings after the last stage. Despite already having earned the title of world champion, I can’t call this season successful. There’s still work to do.”
Theoretically, the Belarusian can still catch Berger’s 283 points in the fight for the main trophy, although it’s a long shot, as Berger remains on good form. However, Darya can fight for the Small Crystal Globe in the mass start, as she could easily win back 40 points over the remaining two events of the season. She believes in herself, so we too must believe in her!
