Belarus at Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics

Belarus competed in five sports at the Winter Olympics in Sochi: biathlon, freestyle skiing, cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing and short-track.

Grand opening of the Olympic Games was held on 7 February. Athletes competed in 98 medal events in 7 sports (15 disciplines). The main slogan and motto of the Olympic Games in Sochi was “Hot. Cool. Yours".

Belarus’ national flag was carried by 2010 Vancouver Olympic champion Alexei Grishin, freestyle skiing, at the official opening ceremony of the 22^nd Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The closing ceremony of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games was held on 23 February in the Fisht Stadium in Sochi. Three-time Olympic biathlon сhampion of Sochi Darya Domracheva had the honour of carrying the Belarusian flag at the closing ceremony.

Belarus’ Olympic Medal Count in Sochi

Belarus finished the 22nd Olympic Games in Sochi with six medals: five gold medals and one bronze. Team Belarus took the 8th place in an unofficial team ranking and made these Olympics the most successful since the country’s independence in 1991.

Darya Domracheva netted first Sochi gold medal for Belarus on 11 February.

Fresh from taking the 10km Pursuit gold Belarus’ Darya Domracheva clinched the second gold medal. She was victorious in the Women’s 15km Individual with four shooting phases on 14 February. Belarus’ Nadezhda Skardino bagged the bronze medal.

Belarusian freestyler Alla Tsuper claimed gold in the 2014 Winter Olympics Ladies’ Aerials on 14 February. It is Belarus’ fourth medal (three golds and one bronze) at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

On 17 February biathlete Darya Domracheva clinched her third gold which was Belarus’ fifth medal at the Sochi Olympic Games. The Belarusian became the first woman to win three biathlon titles at the same Olympics.

Later in the day Belarus’ Anton Kushnir became the Olympic champion in the men’s aerials.

Belarus’ biathlon team

Women: Darya Domracheva, Nadezhda Skardino, Lyudmila Kalinchik, Anastasia Duborezova, Nadezhda Pisareva.

The women's Olympic team is led by Vancouver 2010 bronze medalist Darya Domracheva, runner-up in the overall World Cup standings 2013/2014.

Men: Vancouver 2010 silver winner Sergei Novikov, Evgeny Abramenko, Yuri Lyadov, Vladimir Chepelin, Aleksandr Dorozhko.

Head coach: Andrian Tsybulsky.

Belarus’ freestyle skiing team

Men: Vancouver 2010 champion and Salt Lake City 2002 bronze winner Alexei Grishin, Nagano 1998 silver medalist and Turin 2006 bronze medalist Dmitry Dashchinsky, Big and Small Crystal Globes 2010 winner Anton Kushnir, Denis Osipov.

Women: Alla Tsuper, Anna Guskova, Olga Kapustina.

Head coach: Nikolai Kozeko.

Belarus’ cross-country skiing team

Men: Sergei Dolidovich, Aleksandr Lazutkin, Mikhail Semyonov and Alexei Ivanov.

Women: Yelena Sannikova and Valentina Kaminskaya. Reserve: Yekaterina Rudakova.

Head coach: Viktor Kamotsky.

Belarusian Alpine skiing team

Men: Yuri Danilochkin (19th place at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2013).

Women: Maria Shkanova (finished among 30 best athletes in the Super Combined event at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2013).

Head coach: Joze Malus.

Belarus’ short track team

For the first time Belarus’ short track skaters earned the Olympic berths following the results of the 2013-2014 ISU World Cup (in the men and women’s events). Belarus will be represented in Sochi by Maksim Sergeyev and Olga Talayeva.

Belarusians at Sochi 2014

Belarus’ 2014 Olympic team donned a specially designed sports kit. The 22-piece collection inspired by Belarusian traditional colors (red, green and white), featured national symbols.

The Belarusian Olympians had a chance not only to win prestigious Sochi 2014 medals but also support beginning athletes.

The President’s Sports Club, the National Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sport and Tourism have launched the Olympic Choice project in Belarus, according to which Belarusian Olympic medalists were able to provide sponsor support to any sports school in the country.

Although Belarus’ national ice hockey team failed to book a place at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi the competitions were closely watched by Belarusian ice hockey fans.

Three players of HC Dinamo Minsk, i.e. Lars Haugen (Norway), Lukas Krajicek (Czech Republic), Tomas Surovy (Slovakia), have been called up to represent their national teams at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Oracle Petrovich the Giant Crab that was expected to predict the outcome of ice hockey matches during the 2014 IIHF World Championship in Minsk received some kind of a test during the broadcasting of ice hockey games in Sochi.

Belarus at 2014 Paralympics in Sochi

Belarus sent 10 athletes to the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games that were held in Sochi on 7-16 March. Belarusian athletes competed in two disciplines: cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Cross-country skiing: Lyudmila Volchek, Yadviga Skorobogataya, Vatentina Shits, Larisa Vorona, Lidia Grafeyeva, Vasily Shapteboi, Sergei Silchenko, Dmitry Loban, Yevgeny Lukyanenko, Sergei Volchunovich.

Biathlon: Yadviga Skorobogataya, Larisa Vorona, Lidia Grafeyeva, Vasily Shapteboi, Sergei Silchenko, Dmitry Loban, Yevgeny Lukyanenko.

Lyudmila Volchek is the leader of the Belarusian Paralympic team. She won one gold and three silver medals at the 2006 Turin Olympics and two gold and two bronze medals (cross-country skiing) at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics . She is a medal winner of several rowing events (silver at the Summer Olympics in Beijing and bronze at the London Olympics).

Vasily Shapteboi won the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics (tandem cycling), cross-country skiing silver and bronze in Turin in 2006 and two bronze medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Yadviga Skorobogataya won the cross-country skiing gold and silver in Salt Lake City in 2002 and a bronze medal in Athens in 1996.

Sergei Silchenko won silver and bronze in the running event in Barcelona in 1992 and silver in the cross-country skiing in Turin in 2006.

Skiers Dmitry Loban and Larisa Vorona won bronze at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver.

Belarus won three bronze medals at the Paralympic Games 2014 in Sochi and placed 18th in the overall medal table. Vasily Shapteboi picked up two bronze medals in the 7.5km and 12.5km biathlon races for the visually impaired (class B2). Yadviga Skorobogataya won bronze in the women’s 15km classic race for visually impaired (B2 class).

Preparations for Sochi Olympics

It was not only athletes who trained hard to prepare for the main sports event of the four-year period. Belarusian builders took an active part in the Olympic construction projects in Sochi.

Apart from that, the construction of infrastructure facilities of the sanatorium Belarus located in Sochi and the recreation center Belarus in the village of Krasnaya Polyana have been completed by the 2014 Olympics.

The Belarusian automobile company MAZ has delivered to Sochi several hundreds of medium- and high-capacity buses, including MAZ-103586, the latest addition to the MAZ lineup. The bus meeting the Euro-5 emission standards is designed for cross-country, hillside and flat land use.

Belarusian drivers were engaged in passenger transportation in Sochi during the Olympics, too.