Belarusian athletes honored with medals of Russian Ministry of Sport

The National Olympic Committee hosted a ceremony to honor well-known Belarusian athletes with jubilee medals of the Russian Ministry of Sport on 11 December.

The medals from the Ministry of Sport of Russia celebrate the centenary jubilee of the state governing body in physical culture and sport.

All in all, 20 Belarusians were honored with the Russian medals: Olympic champions Andrey Barbashinsky (handball), Leonid Geishtor (canoeing), Ellina Zvereva (athletics), Vladimir Kaminsky (cycling), Aleksandr Karshakevich (handball), Antonina Koshel (artistic gymnastics), Marina Lobatch (rhythmic gymnastics), Aleksandr Maseikov (canoeing) and Aleksandr Medved (freestyle wrestling), Olympic medalist Igor Lapshin (athletics), honored coaches Gennady Vishnyakov (Paralympic sport), Evgeny Vorsin (hockey), Mikhail Dvoryakov (cycling), Irina Leparskaya (rhythmic gymnastics), Spartak Mironovich (handball), Oleg Raikhlin (freestyle wrestling), Leonid Khromenkov, Vladimir Shantarovich (canoeing) and Dmitry Shichko (fencing), as well as the head of the Belarusian Handball Federation Vladimir Konoplev.

"Each of you has made a huge contribution to the development of sport in the Soviet Union and the Republic of Belarus and continues this work to this day. Last week, Russia held a similar event to celebrate the people who dedicated their lives to sport and forged the glory of the country. I would like to congratulate everyone on the award and to thank Oleg Matytsin and the leadership of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation for this initiative," Belarusian Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk said.

"The Soviet era was a golden age for sport, we were proud of our victories, without dividing the athletes. The large Soviet team was, on the one hand, a formidable rival, and on the other hand, a reliable partner of the international sport. Today, our countries continue to work constructively, despite the sanctions. We are working very closely with our Belarusian colleagues. We have a single calendar, our national teams in many sports participate in joint competitions," Russian Minister of Sport Oleg Matytsin said.

Press service of the NOC of Belarus
Photos by the NOC of Belarus