Museum

Address: 49, Nezavisimosti Ave. (4th floor)
Tel.: +375 17 288 14 63
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 11:00 – 17:00
Closed: Saturday, Sunday

The idea of establishing of the Museum of Olympic Glory appeared practically after the foundation of the NOC Belarus as Belarusian sport boasts of its rich traditions and each edition of the Olympic Games reveals new heroes, outstanding athletes and coaches.

In March 1998 President of the Republic of Belarus, President of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus issued a decree in which among other tasks – that regarding the creation of a museum in order to keep the history of Belarusian sport and the Olympic Movement.

On 24 March 2003 the Joint Executive Committee of the National Olympic Committee and the Collegium of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus adopted the Resolution on setting up of the Museum of Olympic Glory on the basis of the state cultural establishment “Museum of Physical Culture and Sport of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus”. The working group regarding the organization of the Museum was headed first by NOC Belarus Vice-President Alexander Medved and later by NOC Belarus Vice-President Mikhail Kobrinsky.

At the NOC Belarus initiative, the Belarusian Academy of Arts worked out a draft design of the Museum.

The reconstruction works of the rooms for the Museum were undertaken by the Sports Complex ‘Olympiysky” under the financial support of Minsk city authorities. The works were coordinated by NOC Belarus and the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus.

The Museum of Olympic Glory opened its doors on 6 July 2006. Numerous Olympic Champions, coaches and sports officials took part in the opening ceremony.

The seat of the Museum is in the sports center ‘Olymp’ (its area is 664.1 sq.m.). It consists of two exhibition halls, a gallery and a conference-hall.

The first exhibition hall called ‘Revival of the Olympic Idea’ highlights the history of the international Olympic Movement, activities of international sport federations, the role of the International Olympic Committee in the revival of the modern Olympic Games, activities of the International Olympic Academy, the IOC Olympic Museum in Lausanne and Fair Play Movement.

The second exhibition hall named ‘Belarus: Equal among Equals’ displays exhibits reflecting history and development of physical culture and sport in Belarus, successes and achievements of Belarusian athletes at summer and winter editions of the Olympic Games, introduces visitors to the history and development of physical training and sport in the republic.

A significant part of the exposition is devoted to the role of the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus in modern history of the republic.

The picture gallery displays portraits of Olympic Champions painted by Belarusian artists, photo reproductions and sculptures on the sports theme. This exhibition hall hosts topical expositions reflecting outstanding sport events.

At present the activities of the Museum are as follows:

1. Arrangement of expositions based on scientific research, information retrieval and archive management in accordance with the museological normative documents:

- information is provided in a way that would show not only a talent of an athlete, but also his strong-willed and determined personality;

- exposition methods are orientated towards visitors (clearness, simplicity for understanding of the museum’s exhibits).

2. Organization of topical exhibitions on the analysis of sport development in the country.

The Museum hosted over 30 events attended by Olympic, World and European Champions and medalists, organized educational contests.

Annually on the eve of the International Olympic Day the Museum organizes an Olympic lesson at which Olympic Champions perform the function of teachers. The Museum arranged 13 exhibitions. In 2008 visitors had a possibility to attend such exhibitions as ‘2008 Olympic Sport and Art’, ‘2008 – the Year of Health’. “Beijing 2008’, an exhibition devoted to the International Sport Journalists’ Day’.

3. Excursions, provision of services to visitors at the most convenient time for them.

The Museum pays a lot of attention to the theme of Olympic education in Belarus. Its main goal is to promote Olympic ideals, healthy life style, particularly among children and young people.

Analysis of the Museum’s attendance since 01/09/2006

Total: 17 407 visitors from 01/09/2006 to 05/09/2008. Over 400 excursions have been organized.

The most frequent visitors of the Museum of Olympic Glory are students of youth sport schools and colleges.

Museum’s Honorary Guests

The Museum of Olympic Glory welcomes children and adults, citizens of our country and its guests. The honorary guests who wrote their wishes in the Museum’s Book are as follows: NOC Ukraine President Sergey Bubka, Minister of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sport Affairs Viktor Korzh, Ex-Chairman of the State Sport Committee Nickolai Rusak, Minister of the General Administration of Sports, President of the Chinese Olympic Committee Liu Peng, Head of Moscow Sport Committee Alexei Korshunov, LEN President, FINA Honorary Secretary Bartolo Consolo, FIB President Boris Skrynnik, Presidnet of the ‘Dinamo’ Ice-Hockey Club Nickolai Baryshnikov, BOCOG Vice-Chairman, Chairman of the IOC Commission for Culture and Olympic Education Zhenliang HE, ROC Honourary President, IOC member Vitali Smirnov, President of the International Ice-Hockey Federation Rene Fasel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of China to Belarus Yu Hunbin with his wife, representatives of the Embassy of the Chinese People’s Republic in Belarus etc.

The Museum of Olympic Glory has a possibility to contribute to promotion of Olympic education in Belarus thanks to support provided by the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, the Sports Complex "Olympiysky".

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