Irina Nikoultchina of Bulgaria took bronze in the biathlon women's 10 km pursuit biathlon at Soldier Hollow for the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, February 16, 2002. Nikoultchina became bronze medalist with 31 minutes, 15.8 seconds.Russia's Olga Pyleva took the gold in 31 minutes, 07.7 seconds, ahead of silver winner Kati Wilhelm of Germany in 31 minutes, 13.0 seconds. The other Bulgarian to win a medal at the Olympic Games was Evgenia Radanova. On Wednesday, after failing to qualify for the finals at either the 1994 or 1998 Games, Bulgaria's Evgenia Radanova was finally rewarded for her perseverance by taking the bronze ahead of five-time world champion Yang Yang (A) at the Olympic individual short track speed-skating 1,500 meters.