Four-time Olympic champion and two-time World Champion biathlete Darya Domracheva was announced Tuesday, 24 July as the first Star Ambassador for the 2^nd European Games in Minsk, Belarus in 2019.

The Belarusian, who was given the title “Hero of Belarus” following her three-gold medal performance at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, was named Star Ambassador at a ceremony at the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus by Minsk European Games Organising Committee (MEGOC) CEO George Katulin.

The mission of the Star Ambassadors, more of whom will be named later, is to spread the word about Europe’s premier multisport event that will take place from 21-30 June next year in the Belarusian capital.

“I will do my best to perform this role with dignity,” Domracheva said. “Together with the other Star Ambassadors, we will help the entire world learn about this super event. I believe that the 2^nd European Games will be held at a very high level and new sports heroes will be born here. And they will remember Minsk as the city where they had their first great success and will tell others about it. This will be a very important contribution in the popularization of our country.”

The ambassadors will be tasked with promoting a positive image of the Games in Belarus and abroad, generating public interest, and drawing awareness to the 15 sports on the program of the 2nd European Games: 3×3 basketball, archery, athletics, badminton, beach soccer, beach volleyball, boxing, canoe sprint, cycling, judo, karate, sambo, shooting, table tennis and wrestling.

Prominent and influential people from the world of sport, art, and culture will be named Star Ambassadors and will act as brand representatives of Minsk 2019 during meetings and other events.

Domracheva, 31, first got involved in biathlon at the age of 13. Her career peaked at the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi, Russia, where she became a triple gold medallist (in the pursuit race, individual pursuit, and the mass start).

Also in her collection of Olympic medals is a bronze from Vancouver 2010 and a silver and gold from PyeongChang 2018.

In 2015, she won the World Cup and accompanying Big Crystal Globe. In total, Domracheva won two gold medals, four silver medals, and one bronze medal at the World Championships.

She retired from competition earlier this year.

In total, 4,082 athletes from all 50 European National Olympic Committees will compete in 15 sports in Minsk. Ten of the 15 sports will act as qualifiers for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, with the European Games also counting as the official European championships for four sports.

There will be 91 men’s events, 89 women’s events and 21 mixed events, with 115 universality spots available.