The Belarusian squad conceded only to Germany which won with the advantage of 21 seconds. The third place went to the team of the Czech Republic.
Belarus’ biathlon national women’s team after awards ceremony
Belarus’ Nadezhda Skardino, who ran on a starting stage, used one extra cartridge on the first shooting line and left the shooting ground just 16th. However, she finished her leg race second with 4.3 seconds lag from leading Italians.
At the beginning, Anastasia Duborezova was skiing fourth-fifth but after the second shooting line, when she was compelled to use all three extra cartridges, she appeared on the 8th position. Nevertheless, she managed to reduce a lag on a ski track and passed a baton to Nadezhda Pisareva in the 7th place.
Nadezhda Pisareva used two extra cartridges on each of two shooting lines and raised Belarus to the 6th position (+55 seconds).
At the final stage Darya Domracheva not only traditionally ran quickly, but also perfectly shot — only one extra cartridge on the last shooting line. Soon after the second shooting line Domracheva managed to outstrip Czech Veronika Vítková, having brought the national team of Belarus to the second place. The squad showed the best time on a ski track, being 23 seconds ahead of Norwegians.
The women’s national team of Belarus has achieved this medal success in the relay race for the first time since January 2012, when the team was ranked second at the World Cup stage of that season in Italian Antholz-Anterselva. Three biathletes — Skardino, Duborezova and Domracheva — performed in both cases. This time, Nadezhda Pisareva competed instead of Lyudmila Kalinchik who finished her career.
By Kirill Karin
