Biathlon: Domracheva claims relay gold for Belarus

[February 22, 2018]  By Philip O'Connor

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (Reuters) - Darya Domracheva overcame errant shooting by skiing a perfect final leg to claim the women's Olympic 4x6km relay gold for Belarus in a see-saw race held in swirling snow on Thursday.

Hanna Oeberg stormed back from almost a minute down to take silver for Sweden, 10.7 seconds behind Domracheva, and Anais Bescond claimed bronze for France.

The weather conditions made for a tough, tight race during which the lead change hands on virtually every visit to the range as the biathletes struggled to judge the wind.

Italy, Poland, France and Slovakia all headed the pack at some point but it wasn't until Domracheva, who won a silver medal in the mass start, took over on the final leg that the field started to stretch out.

Her powerful skiing allowed her to build a lead and even survive what could have been costly misses on the final shoot before surging to victory.

The 31-year-olf found time to grab a Belarusian flag but it flew off before the finish line and she was left to cross it only carrying the pole.

 

 Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics - Women's 4x6 km Relay Final - Alpensia Biathlon Centre - Pyeongchang, South Korea - February 22, 2018 - Darya Domracheva of Belarus celebrates. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Sweden's Oeberg looked to have an impossible task at the final exchange, almost a minute down, but the 22-year-old individual gold medalist tore through the field to take the silver.

Her superb finish prompted a huge outpouring of joy at the finish line as coach Wolfgang Pichler threw an arm around the shoulders of Sweden's King Carl Gustav.

(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)

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