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Domracheva Clinches Gold for Belarus in Women's Biathlon Pursuit

KRASNAYA POLYANA — Belarussian Darya Domracheva demolished her opponents as she shot to gold Tuesday in the 10-kilometer biathlon women's sprint at the Sochi Olympics.

Near-flawless in both skiing and shooting — even a missed final shot made little difference to her lead — Domracheva won by the vast margin of 37.6 seconds.

Domracheva had been in control since the early stages, taking the lead from Anastasia Kuzmina at the first of four shooting stages and never relinquishing it from that point on.

Norway's Tora Berger took the silver, adding to her individual gold from Vancouver 2010, after a prolonged battle through the pack after starting in 10th. The bronze went to Teja Gregorin of Slovenia, her country's first medal in biathlon, after she overtook much-fancied Czech Gabriela Soukalova late in the race.

Slovakia's Kuzmina, who had started first because of her victory in Sunday's sprint, trailed in sixth after earning two penalty loops with missed shots.

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