Iryna Kryuko

Sport: Biathlon

Born: 30 July 1991

Birthplace: Senno, Vitebsk Region, Belarus

Honors:

Honored Master of Sports

Order for Personal Gallantry (2018)

Career highlights:

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

Silver (12.5km Mass Start), 2017-2018 Biathlon World Cup in Annecy

Silver (4x6km Relay), 2014-2015 Biathlon World Cup in Ruhpolding

Bronze (7.5km Sprint), 2014-2015 IBU Cup in Beitostolen

Gold (4x6km Relay), Biathlon European Championships in Nove Mesto, 2014

Bronze (15km Individual), European Biathlon Championships in Nove Mesto, 2014

Bronze (10km Pursuit), Biathlon Junior World Championships, 2012

Bronze (3x6km Relay), Biathlon Junior World Championships, 2010

Silver (3x6km Relay), Biathlon Junior World Championships, 2009

Biography:

Iryna Kryuko was born in the town of Senno, Vitebsk Region. The future Olympic champion once said that it was an accident that brought her into sports. Their house burned down when Iryna was an elementary school student, and the family had to move to a hostel located next to a biathlon training base. Iryna Kryuko, however, did not take up biathlon at first. When she was in the fifth grade, physical education teacher Valentina Gordetskaya, a former biathlete, took notice of her and showed her to Valery Lektorov, a coach of the sports school. Thus, Iryna’s biathlon story started when she was 11. As the athlete said in one of the interviews, she came to sport rather late and it took her a while to hone skiing skills. Nevertheless, perseverance and hard work brought the necessary results, the first competitions and the first victories. It is worth noting that there were no athletes in the Kryuko family, but the example of the elder sister inspired her brother Viktar (4 years younger) to take up biathlon as well. Today he performs at the IBU World Cup as part of the Belarusian national team.

Iryna Kryuko made her first international appearance in 2009 at the Biathlon Junior World Championships in Canmore, Canada, where she finished fourth in the 10km Individual, 14th in the 6km Sprint, and 8th in the 7.5km Pursuit. Iryna won her maiden silver medal in the 3x6km Relay along with Nelia Nikolayeva and Darya Nesterchik. At the next World Junior Championships in 2010, Iryna Kryuko did not make the podium in the individual races either, but again claimed a medal in the 3x6km Relay, bronze that time.

In 2011, Iryna Kryuko joined the Belarusian national biathlon team and started the 2011/2012 season competing at the IBU Cup and World Cup. At the 2012 Biathlon Junior World Championships the Belarusian graced the podium with bronze in the 10km Sprint. The start of the championships, however, was a disappointing moment for Iryna, as she failed to finish in the 12.5km Individual.

In 2015, Iryna Kryuko placed second in the Women’s Relay at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding. Thanks to her good performance in the World Cup at the start of the 2017/2018 Olympic season, Iryna Kryuko, ranked 21st, made it into Top 30 and qualified for the Mass Start event. She was perfect on the firing stage and finished second, just 11.2 seconds behind France’s Justine Braisaz. Silver in French Annecy became the first major achievement for the athlete in the individual competitions internationally.

At her first Olympic Games in PyeongChang in 2018, Iryna competed in five out of the six biathlon events – 15km Individual (36th), 7.5km Sprint (17th), 10km Pursuit (17th), 12.5km Mass Start (26th). The fifth race was the 4x6km Relay which took place in the Alpensia Cross-Country and Biathlon Centeron on 22 February.

Iryna Kryuko was tagged by Nadezhda Skardino in second position, with Dzinara Alimbekava following and Daria Domracheva doing the anchor leg. Thanks to good skiing speed and accurate shooting, the Belarusian team made the Olympic podium for the first time. The winning time that brought gold to Belarus was one hour, 12 minutes and 3.4 seconds (no penalty laps, 9 spare rounds).

After her victory in the relay, Iryna Kryuko was awarded the Order for Personal Gallantry by the decision of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The Belarusian biathlete was also nominated to the Athletes’ Committee of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) for the period 2018-2020.

According to the athlete’s personal profile on the IBU website, Iryna Kryuko love to take a stroll and is a movie fan. According to Iryna Kryuko’s mother, the athlete loves dogs and plans to get one once she retires from sport.