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What’s the story?
Darya Domracheva, a former KGB agent scripted history at the ongoing Winter Olympics in PyeongChang by becoming the first female biathlete to win four Olympic gold medals.
The Belarusian achieved the feat after clinching a gold medal on Thursday in the women’s 4x6km relay. This is her second medal in the ongoing Games having won silver in the women’s 12.5km mass start.
Domracheva has won an overall six career medals, including four golds in the biathlon, which is a mix of cross-country skiing and riflery.
Speaking to reporters after the win, the 31-year-old said, “You keep dreaming all race. We were very excited at the front of the race, and of course the (feeling) today is just happiness.”
She added, “You can see how we are Olympic champions and I could say that the whole team was really, really strong.”
In case you did not know...
Domracheva owes her impeccable success to the rich KGB background she possesses. Although she left KGB in June 2014, the intense and rigorous training sessions at the academy have benefited her magnanimously.
Belarus, often described as Europe’s last dictatorship, is the only former Soviet republic to retain the name of the country’s security agency.
The heart of the matter
Going into her first shooting bout on the final leg of women's 4x6km relay, Domracheva needed a clean slate to leap-frog Poland’s Weronika Nowakowska and France’s Anais Bescond.
After the first exchange, Belarus was sitting in 10th place but a strong second and third leg from teammates Kryuko and Alimbekava respectively, put Domracheva in position to make her move on the final leg.
The gold medal is Belarus’ first-ever medal in the women’s 4x6km relay.
What’s next?
Belarus currently stands 13th on the medal tally with two gold medals and one silver. Belarus’s Ignat Golovatsiukwill feature in the final fray of the men’s 1000 m speed skating on Friday as he hopes to add to his country’s medal tally.
Author’s take
It's always difficult to break any record and this is a case of a person who has created a feat by winning four Olympic gold medals. She rightly deserves all the accolades for the achievement.
