"Citius, Altius, Fortius": sports achievements of Belarus

“Sport forms a culture of optimism, a culture of vivacity”, once Anatoly Lunacharsky said. And he was absolutely right! Only the nation where the sport is given the same amount of time as the development of intellectual potential and creative endeavors can be called happy.

Sport for Belarusian people

For Belarusians, sport is not just an object of interest during some events, it is a true way of life. It manifests not only in everyday life — you can see runners, bicyclists and roller skaters everywhere and everyday! — but also on the world stage. Belarusian athletes have been performing well for many years. 132 sports are successfully developed in our country, the most popular among them are football, athletics, gymnastics, hockey, biathlon and others.

Speaking of day-to-day activity, mass, children's and youth sports are especially supported in Belarus. Today there are more than 23 thousand objects of physical culture and sports in our country. Many of them from sports complexes have grown to international venues for carrying out not only events of the profile, but also concerts, festivals and others. Among them, for example:

• the multi-profile sports and entertainment complex "Minsk-Arena";
• the all-purpose sports complex “Volna”;
• Borisov-Arena.

Skiing takes a special place in Belarus : it's no wonder that a huge number of prize-winners of the Winter Olympic Games of different years were Belarusians. For the development of this sport the Republican Center for Olympic Training in Winter Sports "Raubichi" was built. Today it is considered to be one of the best centers in the world for biathlon.

VETLIVA is to tell about Belarusian sportsmen with pride! A lot of Belarusian athletes have been renowned at world level and occupy leading positions in various lists of the most successful athletes in Europe and the world. For example, freestyle obeyed Anton Kushnir, Aleksei Grishin and Alla Tsuper. Victoria Azarenko and Maksim Mirny are tennis players of world renown who proudly represented Belarus in various competitions. Belarusian gymnast Vitaly Shcherbo is known as the six-time Olympic champion and one of the best gymnasts of all time. The first belarusian champion in the shooting sport is Sergei Martynov, and Vladislav Goncharov is unmatched in trampolining. The undoubted celebrity in Belarus is Darya Domracheva, the most titled Belarusian athlete in the history of the Winter Olympic Games, the world's first four-time Olympic champion among women and awarded the title "Hero of Belarus" for achievements in sports.

As for achievements in team sports in Belarus, the football club BATE Borisov reached unprecedented heights for Belarus - the club made its way to the group stage of the Champions League, playing with Madrid's “Real Madrid”, Turin “Juventus” and St. Petersburg “Zenit”. In basketball, women's team made special achievements. In 2006, the Belarusians came to the Olympics in Beijing and became the first team in the history of sovereign Belarus that won the right to represent the country at the main start of the four-year period.

Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang in 2018 became the most successful for Belarus: at the main start of the four years our Paralympic athletes won 12 medals — four gold, four silver and four bronze medals. The Belarusian team took the eighth place in the final medal standings. These high results were achieved thanks to the talent and strength of the will of Yuri Golub, Svetlana Sakhonenko, Dmitry Loban and Lydia Grafeeva.

VETLIVA reminds: not only for sports we are famous! Have you already read our article about the most famous Belarusians?

What grandiose sports events took place and will be held in Belarus?

Each year, the number of major international tournaments that are held in Belarus is growing: in 2017 the number of such events increased by 2,5 comparing to 2015. The most significant is the World Hockey Championship in 2014 and Junior World Championship on biathlon in 2015.

It remains quite a bit before the advent of 2019, which brings special joy to sports fans. VETLIVA is happy to inform you that the famous complex "Raubichi" hosts the World Biathlon Championship for the first time in 2019. Also the II European games in Minsk are the main event of 2019. And we remind that on a new visa regime you can stay in Belarus for up to 30 days without a visa! So many facts literally scream to you that next year will be incredibly interesting and memorable for all guests of Belarus! We will gladly help you become one of them!

Sport in the hearts of Belarusians

Summing up there is no doubt that sport will continue to occupy a special place in the hearts of Belarusians. Not only at the level of world competitions, but at the everyday level too: now it is possible to meet children playing football in the yard or cyclists. And it means that interest is not lost, and development is in full swing! A healthy mind in a healthy body, and the mind of Belarus, in VETLIVA's opinion, is in perfect order. To know more about Belarus check our Blog!