Ukrainian biathlon star, Julia Dzhima, will not participate in the first stage of the World Cup taking place in Östersund, Sweden. This was reported by the sports portal Suspilne.
The women's team for the opening stage includes Khrystyna Dmytrenko, Valeriya Dmytrenko, Anastasiya Merkushina, Oleksandra Merkushina, Olena Horodna, and Daryna Chalyk.
The head coach of the national team, Mykola Zots, explained the reasons for Dzhima's absence:
"Julia sustained an injury back in September when she fell and hurt her finger. The recovery took longer than expected, so we decided she will join the team for the second stage in Hochfilzen. She simply did not have enough time to get into shape.
During our training camp in Antholz in October, she stumbled again, and we were concerned about a possible fracture. However, it turned out to be just a finger injury, and she has only recently begun shooting again. She hadn't shot for a whole month. Unfortunately, she just didn’t have enough time to prepare for Östersund," the coach stated.