Three-time Olympic champion Darya Domracheva said her Belarus KGB service had never been associated with the political tasks, but was a source of funding for her sports career.
“Anyone who is familiar with sports bodies in Europe, knows that many elite athletes are in some way working for the state. This may be a small income or scholarship from the military or the customs authorities, the police or the Ministry of Internal Affairs. So it was with me in Belarus. Just as in Norway there is a scholarship from the Norwegian National Olympic Committee, I received a scholarship from the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” Domracheva wrote in an email to the VG media outlet.
According to her, the cooperation with the KGB started 8-10 years ago, when a young athlete needed funds to be only engaged in sports. The funding ceased after the Olympics in Sochi. “I had never performed any political tasks of the KGB, but only received a scholarship to be able to focus on the sporting career,” said the biathlete.
She is currently in Norway. She and Norwegian Ole Einar Bjørndalen expect the birth of first child in early October.
Reports of the Belarusian biathlon team leader and Olympic champion Darya Domracheva serving in the KGB appeared on May 3, with reference to the sports society “Dynama”, of which the famous biathlete is a member. The short biography of Domracheva placed on this resource, said: “She served in the Belarus KGB IC as senior lieutenant”. The information was removed from the site by the evening of May 3. As the representatives of the information and public relations department of the sports society explained, this was done due to the fact that the information was obsolete, “and Domracheva was no longer a member of the KGB IC.”
