Lidija Žurauskaitė or Lidiia Zhurauskaite (Russian: Лидия Жураускайте; born 9 April 1999) is a Lithuanian biathlete. She has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2023.[1]
Career
Lidija Žurauskaitė has had a relatively short international career. After participating in several races at the national level, she first drew attention in the summer of 2022 when she renounced her Russian citizenship by her own request and, due to family background, adopted Lithuanian citizenship. The background for this decision was the exclusion of Russian athletes from all biathlon events and the goal of competing in the 2026 Olympics. The exit was personally approved by Vladimir Putin.[2][3]
Her first races for the Lithuanian Biathlon Federation were at the 2022 Summer Biathlon World Championships, after which she did not compete internationally for some time, returning only at the 2023 Summer Biathlon World Championships, where she placed 30th in the Super Sprint. At the beginning of the 2023/24 winter season, the Lithuanian made her debut in the IBU Cup, finishing 27th in the Kontiolahti individual race, which led to her immediate inclusion in the rather thinly populated World Cup squad. Her first pursuit race at the highest level was in December at Lenzerheide, and she performed even better during the weekend in Oberhof in early January 2024, where Žurauskaitė, despite a shooting miss, won her first World Cup points by finishing 31st in the sprint. In the subsequent pursuit, she dropped back to 54th place.
