Vytoki in Pruzhany: Sports legends, coveted prizes and great music

8 June 2024

Mukhavets Stadium may well receive the title of an Olympic stadium. That was the conclusion reached by participants and guests of the sport and cultural festival Vytoki which wrapped up in the town of Pruzhany.

A large number of famous athletes, champions and medalists of the Olympic Games, world and European championships, famous football players descended on this sports facility this weekend.

Thanks to good advertising, a lot of people came to compete in the Olympic quest and won excellent prizes.

The third day of the festival started with the Olympic quest. The best teams of Brest Oblast competed for the title of the most erudite team. The winner was the team “Youth of Pribuzhye” which has earned the title for the second year in a row.

During the quiz, Sergei Makarenko, the first Olympic champion in the history of Belarus, presented his memoirs published with the assistance of the NOC of Belarus and the Belarusian Olympic Academy. The legendary athlete presented the first copies of the book to President of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus Viktor Lukashenko, Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk and Chairman of the Brest Oblast Executive Committee Yuri Shuleiko. The Olympic quest was opened in style. The ceremony featured Many famous athletes of our country: Ekaterina Karsten, Yulia Nestsiarenka, Andrei and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich, Iriya Kurachkina, Maksim Nedasekau. They lit the symbolic flame of the quest.

One more significant event took place during the Vytoki festival.

Ekaterina Karsten, the first Olympic champion in the sovereign history of Belarus, donated her bronze medal of the XXV Games in Barcelona to the NOC of Belarus. Ekaterina gave the medal to the head of the Olympic Committee of our country Viktor Lukashenko.

“I have been to the NOC of Belarus many times. Every time I saw various prizes, Cups, while the section dedicated to my achievements has only copies. Therefore, together with my daughter I decided to correct the situation. The bronze medal of Barcelona 1992 is very dear to me. It was my first Olympic award, which I won as a member of a quartet of more experienced teammates.”

Ekaterina Karsten's medal will take an honorable place in the exposition of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus.

The Olympic quest attracted a lot of children who together with their parents were eager to get golden seals and win great prizes.

“I will not stop thanking the organizers for such a festival. After all, our wrestling federation needs it very much, the same as other sport federations. Great opportunities for children, good weather, and good mood. We need more such festivals,” Vasilisa Marzalyuk, head coach of the national wrestling team, said.

“Children get tremendous emotions, knowledge, meet with Olympic champions. This is an excellent project from the NOC of Belarus,” Olympic champion in aerials Hanna Huskova said.

The Vytoki festival is a family holiday. Dmitry Litskevich from Pruzhany together with his son Sasha attended the festival at Mukhavets Stadium and shared their impressions and appreciated the gift from the NOC of Belarus.

“It is a great festival, lots of sport locations. Our son Sasha does various sports, and it is a great opportunity for him to take part in the festival. Many famous athletes are in Pruzhany today. For our small town it is a very large-scale event. A skatepark is a great gift from the NOC. It is close to the school. We plan to spend time here until the end of the festival,” he said.

Children from different cities came to Pruzhany for the festival. For example, Ksenia Dymanova is from Baranovichi and has already something to compare because a year earlier Vytoki was held in her hometown. In Ksenia's opinion, there should be more such festivals.

The festival also featured products of Belarusian companies. Workshops to assemble the popular car brand Honqi have recently opened in Minsk District. The car was also displayed at the festival.