Darya Domracheva

Darya Domracheva
Full name	Darya Vladimirovna Domracheva
Born	(1986-08-03) August 3, 1986 Minsk, Soviet Union
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
World Cup career
Seasons	2006–
Podiums	56 (including Olympics)
Wins	18 (including Olympics)
Medal record Women's biathlon Representing Belarus Olympic Games 2014 Sochi Pursuit 2014 Sochi Individual 2014 Sochi Mass start 2010 Vancouver Individual World Championships 2012 Ruhpolding Pursuit 2013 Nové Město Mass start 2008 Östersund Mixed relay 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk Mass start 2012 Ruhpolding Sprint 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk Relay
Updated on March 16, 2014.

Darya Vladimirovna Domracheva (Belarusian: Дар’я Уладзіміраўна Домрачава; Darja Uładzimiraŭna Domračava, Russian: Да́рья Влади́мировна До́мрачева; born 3 August 1986) is a Belarusian biathlete who has been competing in the Biathlon World Cup since 2006. She won three gold medals in the pursuit, individual, and mass start competitions at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and a bronze medal in the individual competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Career

Domracheva started her sports career with cross-country skiing in 1992 but switched to biathlon in 1999. She originally represented Russia at youth level but received an offer to switch to Belarus in 2004. She joined Belarus’ national biathlon team in 2006 (made her junior team debut in 2005). Domracheva won sprint and pursuit at the 2005 IBU Youth and Junior World Championships in Kontiolahti (Finland). She finished 40th in the individual race (the diopter fell off, and she missed 5 targets at the third shooting stage.)

Domracheva took 3rd place in the pursuit and 4th place in the individual events at the 2006 Junior World Championships in Presque Isle, Maine. In 2007 she picked up two silver medals in sprint and pursuit at the Junior World Championships in Vall Martello, Italy.

Her breakthrough came during the 2008/2009 season when she earned two third places and one second place.

At the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, she won the bronze medal in the Women's 15-kilometer individual race at the Whistler Olympic Park venue. Later in the same season, on 13 March, she won her first World Cup race in the sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland. The next day she also won the pursuit.

Domracheva was named Belarus' Female Athlete of the Year in 2010, and was also given the title of Honoured Master of Sport that year.

World Cup

Domracheva won the Pursuit World Cup 2011–2012 and won the Mass Start World Cup 2011–2012. In the Total World Cup 2011–2012 she ended the season second with 1188 points behind Magdalena Neuner's 1216 points.

In the 2010–2011 season Domracheva won the Mass Start World Cup.

Position in the Total World Cup:

• Season 2012–2013, number 2
• Season 2011–2012, number 2
• Season 2010–2011, number 6
• Season 2009–2010, number 6
• Season 2008–2009, number 7
• Season 2007–2008, number 26
• Season 2006–2007, number 22

Season	Overall			Sprint			Pursuit			Individual			Mass Start
	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position	Races	Points	Position
2006–07	16/27	297	22nd	9/10	164	15th	6/8	125	15th	0/4	–	–	1/5	8	42nd
2007–08	18/26	226	26th	10/10	124	18th	6/8	76	22nd	0/3	–	–	2/5	26	34th
2008–09	23/26	776	7th	10/10	329	5th	6/7	214	8th	3/4	87	14th	4/5	146	7th
2009–10	22/25	770	6th	9/10	283	6th	5/6	199	4th	3/4	121	4th	5/5	140	8th
2010–11	26/26	862	6th	10/10	323	7th	7/7	252	5th	4/4	51	29th	5/5	236	1st
2011–12	26/26	1188	2nd	10/10	471	2nd	8/8	392	1st	3/3	116	3rd	5/5	250	1st
2012–13	26/26	924	2nd	10/10	351	2nd	8/8	251	6th	3/3	122	3rd	5/5	200	2nd

Record

Olympic Games

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass Start	Relay	Mixed Relay
2010 Vancouver	Bronze	8th	15th	6th	7th	—
2014 Sochi	Gold	9th	Gold	Gold	5th	–

World Championships

Event	Individual	Sprint	Pursuit	Mass Start	Relay	Mixed Relay
2007 Antholz-Anterselva	–	13th	22nd	DNF	5th	13th
2008 Oestersund	–	46th	25th	–	5th	Silver
2009 Pyeongchang	11th	53rd	5th	6th	4th	9th
2010 Khanty-Mansiysk	Not held in an Olympic season					9th
2011 Khanty-Mansiysk	19th	26th	35th	Silver	Bronze	10th
2012 Ruhpolding	25th	Silver	Gold	5th	4th	6th
2013 Nové Město na Moravě	33rd	43rd	25th	Gold	7th	11th

Individual victories

18 victories (3 Sp, 6 Pu, 3 In, 6 MS)

Season	Date	Event	Competition	Level
2009/10 2 victories (1 Sp, 1 Pu)	March 13, 2010	Kontiolahti	7.5 km Sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	March 14, 2010	Kontiolahti	10 km Pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
2010/11 1 victory (1 MS)	March 20, 2011	Oslo	12.5 km Mass Start	Biathlon World Cup
2011/12 6 victories (3 Pu, 1 In, 2 MS)	December 1, 2011	Östersund	15 km Individual	Biathlon World Cup
	December 10, 2011	Hochfilzen	10 km Pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	January 22, 2012	Antholz	12.5 km Mass Start	Biathlon World Cup
	March 4, 2012	Ruhpolding	10 km Pursuit	Biathlon World Championships
	March 17, 2012	Khanty-Mansiysk	10 km Pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	March 17, 2012	Khanty-Mansiysk	12.5 km Mass Start	Biathlon World Cup
2012/13 3 victories (1 Sp, 1 In, 1 MS)	December 7, 2012	Hochfilzen	7.5 km Sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	February 17, 2013	Nové Město	12.5 km Mass Start	Biathlon World Championships
	March 7, 2013	Sochi	15 km Individual	Biathlon World Cup
2013/14 6 victories (1 Sp, 2 Pu, 1 In, 2 MS)	January 3, 2014	Oberhof	7.5 km Sprint	Biathlon World Cup
	January 4, 2014	Oberhof	10 km Pursuit	Biathlon World Cup
	February 11, 2014	Sochi	10 km Pursuit	Winter Olympic Games
	February 14, 2014	Sochi	15 km Individual	Winter Olympic Games
	February 17, 2014	Sochi	12.5 km Mass Start	Winter Olympic Games
	March 9, 2014	Pokljuka	12.5 km Mass Start	Biathlon World Cup

*Results are from IBU races which include the Biathlon World Cup, Biathlon World Championships and the Winter Olympic Games.

Personal life

Domracheva was born in Minsk. When she was four her parents moved to the small town of Nyagan, Russia in Siberia. Her parents are architects, and at the time they were young people who wanted to build cities. Domracheva has stated: "You have to imagine: Nyagan is just one year older than me."

Domracheva started skiing when she was six. Nyagan was at its infancy then and there were few choices. She chose to do sports. The town has grown and developed in the meantime, there are more cultural events, it is no longer a problem to pass the time. She says: "When I was living there, we did not have anything of that." In cross-country ski races she was competing with boys, as she had no rivals among girls.

Sport was a way to let off steam for her. She said: "I‘ve always been excited about sports. When I saw skis, my eyes began to sparkle, just as other children‘s eyes did when seeing toys. I had a lot of energy as a child and I had to let it out. I was hard to contain." A biathlon school was opened in Nyagan in 1999, which Domracheva attended.

Domracheva attended university in Tyumen, and studied sports management from 2002 until 2003.

Domracheva's family moved back to Minsk in 2003. In Minsk they did not have a faculty of Sports Management, so Domracheva changed to studying Tourism Management at the Belarusian State Economic University. In 2009 she was writing her diploma thesis on the subject: Advertising in the tourism industry.

Domracheva's nickname is "Dasha".

Domracheva presented the voting result of Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 final on 18 May.

Film

Domracheva used a video camera to document herself, her teammates and athletes from other countries from 2008 until after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The 500 hours of material was edited into a 50-minute movie. The movie gives a unique insight into the life of world class athletes during the whole year, from the few weeks of relaxation and rest in the spring, through the hard training during the summer and the fall, to the competition season between December and March. The movie shows athletes from many countries, living together, traveling together and competing together.

External links

• Fan-site of Darya Domracheva
• Official website
• Profile on IBU site
• International Biathlon Union, news and statistics.
• Current standings, women's World Cup total score.