Opinions & Interviews

SMOLEVICHI DISTRICT, 1 April (BelTA) – Tough competition with Kaisa Makarainen in the 2014/2015 season added motivation and helped win the Big Crystal Globe, three-time Olympic champion, winner of the 2014-2015 IBU overall standings Darya Domracheva reporters after her arrival to Minsk National Airport on 1 April, BelTA has learned.

“Of course I felt Makarainen behind my back, especially at the end of the season. It kept me concentrated and motivated. However, I always try to focus on what I am doing. It is my strong point. It is me who sets myself for a battle, and my main wish is to win,” Darya Domracheva said.

The Big Crystal Globe winner noted that the season was not an easy one. “It was a difficult season. Not everything went smooth. We worried a lot, for instance, when we had problems with skis and the whole team had to clench teeth to fight the tracks and show a decent result at the competitions,” the biathlete said.

When asked about next season's plans, Darya Domracheva said that plans will have to wait and that she wants to have a rest first.

Darya Domracheva won her first Big Crystal Globe, the overall women's biathlon World Cup title, to finish the biathlon season 2014/2015 on a grant note. She bagged nine wins having scored 1,092 points and edging out her closest rivals Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen (1044 points) and Ukrainian Valentina Semerenko (865). Darya won four Pursuit races (Kontiolahti, Anterselva, Nove Mesto, Khanty-Mansiysk), two Sprint events (Anterselva and Holmenkollen) and two Mass Starts (Ruhpolding and Oberhof), and the Individual race ( Ostersund).

Darya Domracheva has become the second Belarusian in history who won the Big Crystal Globe. The first Belarusian to claim the trophy was Svetlana Paramygina (the 1993/94 season).