Young Aussie Lucy Glanville has shown strong determination to finish the Women's 15km Individual Biathlon in her first Olympic Games.
BIATHLON: Australia’s Lucy Glanville has finished the Women’s 15km Individual Biathlon in 78th to complete her debut Olympic Games.
Glanville finished the five laps of the testing course in a time of 1:01:00.7 and was 17:41.1 behind Belarusian gold medalist Darya Domracheva.
In what is one of the most challenging courses in the world, Glanville toughed it out to ensure she had two Olympic results to her name.
“It was difficult out there,” said Glanville who was ranked higher than fiver other athletes, all who didn’t complete the race.
“I wasn’t expecting too much result wise but I didn’t feel too good on my skis which was probably a combination of my sickness and the altitude but my shooting was ok.
“It was not the best result but nothing to be too ashamed of.”
It was another evening of slushy snow after the Sochi sunshine at the Laura Cross Country and Biathlon Centre continued to make it hard for Glanville and her more experienced competitors.
“The snow started quite firm as I was in the first group but by the third lap it had really softened up.
“It is a tough enough course let alone in these conditions. It definitely made for a rough race.”
Hoping to use the Sochi Games as a platform for future success, the young gun will now look to progress over the next four years and then wear the Green and Gold again in Pyeongchang.
“I’m definitely looking to improve over the next few years.
“Four misses in the shooting wasn’t too bad but I know I can improve that over the coming years.
“Improvement in my skiing will come in more training hours, age and time.”
Glanville is now looking forward to soaking up her first Olympic experience by getting out of the Endurance Village and into the stands around Sochi.
“I was a gymnast for a ling time so I’ve always loved Figure Skating so I’m really excited to go watch our Australian Figure Skaters.
“I just want to go out and check out the venues and make the most of my time here.”
For Domracheva it was her second Gold medal of the Sochi Games after taking out the 12.5km Pursuit on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old beat home Switzerland’s Selina Gasperin by 1:15.7 while teammate Nadezhda Skardino claimed the Bronze.
