Lidija Žurauskaitė

Lidiia Zhurauskaite (born 9 April 1999) is a Russian-origin Lithuanian biathlete. She has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2023.

Career Lidiia Zhurauskaite 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.

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 Zhurauskaite, 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.

Zhurauskaite made her debut at the World Championship in 2024 in Nové Mesto with participation in the mixed relay.

Biathlon results All results are sourced from the International Biathlon Union.

Olympic Games 0 medals EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2026 Milano Cortina 81st 64th — — 20th 20th

World Championships EventIndividualSprintPursuitRelay 2024 Nové Mesto 43rd 60th 57th — — 17th — 2025 Lenzerheide 45th 69th — — 17th 16th 22nd

World Cup Overall standings

Season Age Overall Individual Sprint Pursuit Mass start Races Points Position Points Position Points Position Points Position Points Position2023–24 24 11/21 10 82nd — — 10 72nd — — — —2024–25 25 12/21 12 81st — — 12 69th — — — —