Natalia Sokolova started biathlon in 1996 . She made her World Cup debut in 1997 in Lillehammer . After a disappointing 82nd place, she was only used in 1999 in Ruhpolding , where she immediately scored points in the sprint (17th place). Until 2003 she was used several times, but only sporadically, in the Russian World Cup team, and rarely achieved presentable placements. Since she was not taken into account in the Russian team in the 2004/05 season, she switched to the Belarusian association and competed for Belarus since the 2005/06 season. Here she became a successful athlete. Several times she finished in the top 10, her best result was a fourth place in the pursuit at the race in Kontiolahti in 2004. Since the 2007/08 season she starts again for Russia. She won the overall ranking of the IBU Biathlon Cup in 2008/09 .
She took part in world championships four times (2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005). With the Russian relay she was European champion in 2004 and vice-European champion in 2001. There is also a European title in the pursuit in 2006 in Langdorf .
World Cup results
The table shows all placements (depending on the year, including the Olympic Games and World Championships).
1st - 3rd Place: Number of podium placements
Top 10: Number of placements in the top ten (including podium)
Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks (including podium and top 10)
Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
Russia Belarus
