Zaitseva brings Russia first gold in Biathlon World Cup

Olga Zaitseva has snatched Russia’s first gold in this season’s Biathlon World Cup, winning the women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint in Hochfilzen, Austria.

Zaitseva, who started the race under number 70, was the fastest on the track, committing just one miss on the target range.

The Russian beat second-placed, Darya Domracheva of Belarus, by 14 seconds, with Helena Ekholm of Sweden skiing to bronze.

"Despite the wind, the race was great,” Zaitseva told Biathlonrus.com. “In general, the weather was good. The skis rolled fine, thanks to our service guys. On the last lap all our coaches supported me and pushed me forward. I thank them very much. Actually, I want to thank everybody, who shouted for me today.”"I didn’t have any special feelings before the race,” the 33-year-old added. “I didn’t even pay attention to how I was running on the first two laps, I didn’t know at what place I was. I just worked according to plan and that’s it. I'm very glad it turned out this way.”

This was Team Russia’s first gold medal in the 2011-12 World Cup in both men’s and women’s events.

As for Zaitseva, she has already taken silver in the pursuit and bronze in sprint at the event’s second stage last week.