Biathlon - Domracheva wins in Sochi, Berger takes Crystal Globe

Belarusian Domracheva, the 81st competitor to start the 15km individual, raced into the lead at 1.2km mark before building a cushion of almost nine seconds after her first clear shoot. Her advantage then became over 48 seconds as she shot clear again second time in the range while by the third, which again was perfect, the 26-year-old led by almost a minute-and-a-half. She relinquished the lead after missing two targets on her fourth and final shoot however her ski speed was such that she made up the near 17-second deficit on Olga Zaitseva to win by almost 35. Domracheva clocked 45:45.2minutes with Zaitseva, who shoot completely clear, tiring over the final kilometres and coming home in second, 34.6seconds behind in total. Berger, the 15th starter, set the early pace and was leading for a period of time after posting a time 46.8 seconds slower than that of flying Belarusian Domracheva but had to settle for third. Still third place was enough for Berger, who claimed the overall World Cup title last weekend, to take the individual Crystal Globe with two wins prior to her third at the Olympic test event in Sochi.