March 20, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – Darya Domracheva from Belarus got she wanted – gold. The rising 24-year-old star has come close, and she finally made good with solid shooting and solid skiing on the final round of the World Cup at the Holmenkollen in Oslo, capping off a strong season scoring her first WCup victory at Sunday’s 12.5km women’s Mass Start.

But nothing comes easy and Domracheva had to contend with the best in the business to earn her victory. The race got off to a speedy start, with Miriam Gössner of Germany leading the way into the range. However, nearly half the field faltered at shooting, allowing Gössner’s teammate, Andrea Henkel, who shot clean to take the lead, followed closely by the Russian trio of Olga Zaitseva, Anna Bogaliy-Titovets and Ekaterina Yurlova.

The Russians seemed on fire, perhaps looking for some redemption from their poor showing in the women’s relay at the IBU Worlds at home in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Henkel could not remain perfect in her second stint in the shooting range, missing a single shot to drop out of the lead pack. Domracheva, who had been on the heels of the leaders, shot clean to leave the stadium with Henkel in 3rd and 4th place respectively.

Russia’s Bogaliy-Titovets, who was without a miss going into the first standing stage, continued her streak to remain the leader. Henkel and Domracheva both shot clean as well to stay in the hunt, while Zaitseva suffered a penalty to move 30 seconds back from the lead and into 4th place.

Domracheva skied well and came into the stadium for the last shooting stage in 1st place, while Henkel and Bogaliy-Titovets following closely behind. But the Belarusian faltered missing a pair of targets. She was not the only one feeling the pressure as Henkel missed two as well, while Bogaliy-Titovets missed just one to take an 8.1-second lead going into the final stretch.

It was game on and Domracheva knew what she had to do as she marked the Russian skier ahead, advancing steadily to completely erase the deficit with 1,700 meters remaining. She rode her fast skis to a comfortable victory and a final time of 36:13.0. Bogaliy-Titovets took 2nd place, nine seconds ahead of Zaitseva, her Russian teammate as Henkel settled for fourth.

“I believed that I could win and now I am very happy…I knew that when I left the stadium behind Anna that it was my last chance,” Domracheva told Biathlonworld.com. “I never stopped believing that I could win. After three good shooting stages, I had two penalties; I guess that I do not like easy competitions.”

Bogaliy-Titovets, who landed on the podium for the first time this season, attributed her success to good shooting. “I have had a lot of problems with shooting all season, but no today,” she explained. “I felt less stressed today and that helped me a lot. I knew that a 6-second lead over Darya was not much, but when she passed me, I just tried to protect my second place.”

Russia’s top overall biathlete this season, Zaitseva, was very happy with the team’s performance as a whole. “We had a lot of psychological problems at the World Championships, because everyone wanted to perform so well at home. But today, no one expected anything from us,” said Zaitseva.

Sara Studebaker led the American effort with fine shooting, missing just one shot to finish in 22nd place and a time of 39:07.1. Her teammate, Haley Johnson, had three missed targets and ended up in 27th. The US Biathlon women’s team continues to make gains as this was the first time they’ve had two biathletes at a mass start.

“I think this is the first we’ve had two women starting in the Mass Start. All together, we have had three women compete in the Mass Start this season,” said Johnson in her blog, “I’ve been doing this sport for awhile now and I am proud to be a part of this momentous step forward.

“I moved into the top 15 a few times after the range, which felt great and I used it as motivation for only a quick moment,” Johnson said. “Anything can happen in biathlon, so I continued to stick to my own pace no matter the place.”

Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen, who finished 15th in Sunday’s race, retained her hold on the Yellow Bib to be this year’s best overall biathlete with 1,005 points. Henkel took 2nd with 972, and Sweden’s Helena Ekholm claimed 3rd with 971.

Full results HERE.
Final WCup standings HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Darya Domracheva, BLR (1+0+0+2) 36:13.0
2. Anna Bogaliy-Titovets, RUS (0+0+0+1) 36:29.0
3. Olga Zaitseva, RUS (0+0+1+0) 36:38.0

22. Sara Studebaker, USA (0+0+0+1) 39:07.1
27.  Haley Johnson, USA (2+0+0+1) 39:36.5