Belarus had a big day in the women’s biathlon 15km individual, as Darya Domracheva earned a second gold in Sochi and teammate Nadezhda Skardino picked up the bronze behind Swiss silver medalist Selina Gasparin.
Domracheva, who won Tuesday’s women’s pursuit and is the 2013 world champion in the mass start, earned the victory on one penalty and a time of 43:19.6. Both Gasparin and Skardino shot cleanly but finished more than one minute behind Domracheva.
Norway’s Tora Berger had a tough afternoon in her Olympic title defense. She missed one shot in her first shooting stage, and then missed two on the second stage to knock her out of contention; she wound up finishing back in 16th.
Hannah Dreissigacker finished 23rd on two penalties to lead the Americans, while Susan Dunklee had a total of five penalties in a 34th place finish. Lanny Barnes, who got the chance to compete in the Olympics after her sister gave her spot on the U.S. team to her, was 64th on three penalties.
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WOMEN’S BIATHLON – 15KM INDIVIDUAL
1. Darya Domracheva (BLR), 43:19.6
2. Selina Gasparin (SUI), 44:35.3
3. Nadezhda Skardino (BLR), 44:57.8
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23. Hannah Dreissigacker (USA), 47:51.7
34. Susan Dunklee (USA), 48:54.1
55. Sara Studebaker (USA), 50:53.4
64. Lanny Barnes (USA), 53:02.2
