Dafovska, Ekaterina (c. 1976—)

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Dafovska, Ekaterina (c. 1976—)

Bulgarian biathlon champion. Born around 1976.

An administrator from Tchepelare, Bulgaria, Ekaterina Dafovska did not take up the biathlon, an event that combines cross-country skiing and shooting, until 1992; one year later, she made the national team. In the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, she came in 29th in the 15-kilometer competition.

Dafovska was ranked only 51st in World Cup standings when she entered the 1998 Nagano Olympics in Japan. Fighting off winddriven snow that severely reduced visibility for shooting, she surprised everyone by winning Bulgaria's first-ever Winter Olympic gold medal with a race time of 54:52, 17.8 seconds ahead of Elena Petrova of the Ukraine who took the silver. Ursula Disl of Germany repeated as bronze medalist. All three shot 19 out of 20 targets.