Darya Domracheva: "Becoming the most winning biathlete ever could be a goal for me"

Are you satisfied about your summer training? Are you in pace with the working schedule, or did you have some kind of problems/little injuries?
"Fortunately the whole summer training went accordingly to plans. Some short colds changed few of my training days, but it is not a problem, just few days more for recovering from trainings".

Let’s talk about the big change happened in the staff. After 6 years you’re not working with Klaus Siebert anymore and Alfred Eder is the new Belarusian coach. What could you tell us about this change?
"We had 6 good years with Klaus, the whole team is very thankful to him for giving us his time and for the passion he put to work with us. But life sometimes gives unexpected situations, Klaus supported us during all these years and now he needs our support more than ever. It was nice from Alfred to accept our invitation, so we will try to keep a straight face during the season for him, for Klaus, for Andrian, for Fjodor… well, for all our coaches! We are having well-organized trainings with Alfred, his training plan is not so much different from Klaus’s program, but there are few different new things for us. I can say that all training-process is going quite well and also that we understand each other.”.

Andrian Tsybulski said that Alfred has been hired in order to give you more stability in your shooting performances. So could you tell us how this stability should be reached?
“The system is not so different, but we changed some small things which could be important. For example we did some little changes in my preparation on the mat and on my stock. We’re going to see it soon if they works!”

Andrian Tsybulski also said it’s no mystery you’re aiming for the big Crystal Globe in the upcoming winter.  You were very close to win it in two of the last three seasons. In your opinion is there something specific you lacked in order to win it or simply thing went in the wrong way for you and it’s just a matter of time?  
“For sure in the last season there were some situations that affected my overall standings. For example the stopped pursuit in Östersund where I was leading, and the fact that no points were awarded for the Olympic races. But I would like to look forward, what happened in the past is already history and a part of my biography, so it’s better to keep it for a book! Now it’s time to open a new page of my life-book: new season, new story!”

Let’s go beyond sport. You already were a star, but in February you became the first sportswoman ever  to be awarded “Hero of Belarus”. So do you feel your popularity increased  after the 3 gold medals in Sochi  (in Belarus, but also abroad)? Did your life somehow changed since February? And if yes did you have to struggle to adapt to this “New status”? 
“Yes, of my course after 3 Olympic gold medals my popularity increased both in my country and abroad. The number of fan-posts I’ve got after the 3 wins was incredible and I feel more attention from people around me. I can’t say that status of Hero of Belarus changed my life, I’m still doing my sport, but I started feeling a lacking of time. I understand that now I should pay more attention to my schedule and make strict plans in order to avoid different experiences to affect my athlete status. Now I participate in some very interesting projects and events, for example I became Goodwill Ambassador of UNDP. Surely more and more people or companies would like to see me in their events, but my sport-life style, with a lot of practice and training-camps, secures me from too big pressure from other sides”. 

You’re always in front line if we talk about charity and you showed it to Italian people in April when you supported Focolaccia skiclub and humanitarian association YRA in the help children who still suffer the consequences of Chernobyl disaster in the Gomel region. Recently you picked up the fundraising to help Tatjana Miskevych (Татьяна Мицкевич). Can you explain to Italian fans what’s happening to this girl? 
“It is a story about a Russian woman, former cross-country skier and biathlete, now mother of two nice kids. Some time ago she discovered to have skin cancer, so she’s going through therapy and rehabilitation. We are hopeful that everything will be good with Tatjana and that she will overcome this situation. More information and Tatjana’s can be found on my Facebook page. 

Let’s go back to sport. In February the Junior World Championships are going to be held in Raubichi and I saw that a new complex has been build in Vitebsk, near the Russian border. So my impression is that Belarus is investing in biathlon. Do you think a World Cup stage in Belarus is just a dream, or maybe it could become real? 
“I think we have a big chance to get a World Cup Stage in Minsk. There are some very serious reasons for it besides the high investments from our country. First of all there are new rules about Schengen-Visas. Now athletes from No-Schengen countries can’t stay more than 90 days in Schengen Zone every 6 months. This means athletes from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, China, Korea, and other countries – in other words a lot of the top-level biathletes - cannot adjust together full preparation and participation in all world cups stages. We need to pay attention to these situations if we want biathlon becoming a really strong world-wide sport. It would be good for the biathlon-developing to make half of the competitions inside the Schengen-zone and the other half outside it, in countries where biathlon popularity is very high. Raubichi could be a perfect solution for this situation, and I’m saying this not only because I’m from there, but also from and  objectively point of view. Raubichi is a very attractive place because of its geographic location in the middle of Europe (Europe’s geographical center is in Belarus), so it’s convenient to reach it from all countries and by any kind of transports. It’s near a city of 2 million people like Minsk, it is 30-minutes from the airport and 40-minutes from the train station, it has amazing infrastructures and biathlon’s popularity in Belarus is very high. For example in 2003 Raubichi held European Championships, and there were more than 50.000 viewers. So I’m really hopeful and I believe that biathlon World Cup can arrive in Minsk”. 

You’re probably the faster biathlete on skis. Miriam Gössner and Kaisa Mäkäräinen already tried to compete also in cross-country skiing. What about you? Did you ever consider this option for the upcoming years? 
“It could be. It would be interesting for me to try myself in cross-country skiing because I began my career in it before turning to biathlon. Maybe you are going to meet me soon in one cross-country race, it depends on my training program. But I must say that I love biathlon much more and it is my real passion”.

You’re 28 and you’re already among the 7 greatest biathletes of all-times but let’s look further. You won 19 races and Magdalena Forsberg, the most winning ever, has 42 victories. Could overtake Forsberg and becoming the most winning biathlete ever be a long-term goal for you?
“Ha-ha! Why not? Maybe it would be a not so ‘long-term’ goal!”.