site.btaBiathlete Milena Todorova Finishes Fourth, Lora Hristova 11th in 7.5km Sprint; Both Qualify for Pursuit

Milena Todorova was the top-performing of four Bulgarians in the women's 7.5 km sprint at the Milan Cortina Olympics. The 28-year-old Todorova finished fourth with a time of 21:20.8 minutes, after missing one target in the first of two shootings at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Complex.

She missed the podium by just 16.3 seconds, recording her best-ever Olympic result; her previous top finish was 17th in the same discipline at Beijing 2022 Olympics. Todorova also equalled the best-ever Bulgarian Olympic finish in the discipline, set by Nadezhda Aleksieva at Albertville 1992 Olympics.

"I don't really know how I feel. I'm happy, but at the same time I'm sad. Fourth place is the toughest position in sport, but that's how it is. Still, it's a step forward, and I hope to build on it," the Bulgarian athlete said through tears.

22-year-old Lora Hristova, who won bronze in the 15 km individual with perfect shooting, missed one target in the prone position on Saturday and finished 11th with 21:54.1 minutes.

Both Todorova and Hristova qualified for the 10km pursuit on Sunday, with strong starting positions to challenge for the podium.

Olympic debutants Valentina Dimitrova and Maria Zdravkova finished outside the top 80, ending their individual events. They will only participate in the 4×6km relay on February 18.

Zdravkova placed 83rd in 24:44.2 minutes, hitting only six of ten targets, while Dimitrova finished 85th in 24:56.1 minutes, missing three targets in total.

The gold medal went to 22-year-old Maren Kirkeeide of Norway, who shot cleanly to post 20:40.8 minutes, her career-best performance.

23-year-old Oceane Michelon of France claimed silver, just 3.8 seconds behind, also with perfect shooting.

27-year-old Lou Jeanmonnot of France took bronze in 23.7 seconds behind Kirkeeide with one miss in the standing stage, completing a full medal set at Milan Cortina after gold in the mixed relay and silver in the individual event.

Todorova finished 40.0 seconds behind Jeanmonnot. Hristova ended 1:13.3 minutes behind Kirkeeide and will start Sunday's pursuit with that deficit.