Dzinara Alimbekava

Sport: Biathlon

Born: 5 January 1996

Birthplace: Abay, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan

Honors:

Honored Master of Sport of the Republic of Belarus

Order for Personal Gallantry, 2018

Honorary citizen of Chausy District

Career highlights:

Gold (4x6km Relay), Olympic Games in PyeongChang, 2018

Gold (3x6km Relay), IBU Youth/Junior World Championships in Raubichi, 2015

Biography:

Dzinara Alimbekava was born in a small town of Abay, Karaganda Region, Kazakhstan, to a Kazakh father and Belarusian mother. When Dzinara was three years old, her family moved to Chausy, Belarus. In interviews the future Olympic champion said that her family was not athletic except for her grandfather who worked out on a regular basis.

From early childhood Dzinara did choreography and took piano lessons. In her words, she took up cross-country skiing at the age of 11 thanks to her PT teacher Gennady Tayevsky. Dzinara enrolled in the children’s sport school in Chausy, but found it hard to combine art and sport studies. A year later the athlete took up biathlon under the tutelage of coach Andrei Ivanov.

Dzinara Alimbekava made her international debut at the age of 15. At the Biathlon Junior World Championships in the Czech Republic the athlete finished 21st in the sprint and 35th in the pursuit. Dzinara also placed 11^th in the relay.

In 2015, Dzinara Alimbekava, Hanna Sola and Darya Blashko clinched a gold medal in the relay race at the Youth/Junior World Championships in Raubichi. At the age of 16, the athlete started competing in the IBU Cup events. So far her best result is a silver medal in the sprint in Beitostolen, Norway in the 2016/2017 season.

Dzinara Alimbekava competed in six events in the IBU World Cup in the 2017/2018 Olympic season. The athlete posted her best results in the sprint in Annecy (33^rd) and in the individual race in Ruppolding (35^th).

Dzinara made her first Olympic appearance in the 15km individual race at the PyeongChang Games on 15 February 2018 where she placed 56^th, 5:56.8 behind winner Hanna Oeberg of Sweden.

Ahead of the relay race, coaches were choosing between Dzinara Alimbekava and Nadzeya Pisarava to complete the Belarusian quartet and finally decided in favor of Dzinara Alimbekava.

The women’s relay took place on 22 February where the Belarusian team graced the Olympic podium for the first time in the history of the country.  Belarus golden team included Nadezhda Skardino, Iryna Kryuko, Dzinara Alimbekava and Darya Domracheva. The winning time was one hour, 12 minutes and 3.4 seconds (no penalty laps, 9 spare rounds). Dzinara Alimbekava has become the youngest Olympic champion in the history of biathlon.  

After her victory in the relay, Dzinara Alimbekava was awarded the Order for Personal Gallantry by the decision of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko. 

Dzinara Alimbekava practices snowboarding and skating in her free time.