Press releases

MINSK, 5 August (BelTA) – Belarusian athletes will open of the 31^st Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ahead of the official opening of the Games. Archer Anton Prilepov will be the first among Belarusians to perform in Rio, BelTA has learned.

The Belarusian archer will take part in the qualifying event on 5 August alongside with other 64 athletes. The 2016 Olympics will include four medal archery events: men’s and women’s individual and team events.

The archery tournament will take place in Sambodromo, a traditional venue for samba school parades and other large-scale events. Sambodromo was built in 1984 and reconstructed in 2012. It represents a 700-meter street, with stands lining up each side of it. The total area of Sambodromo is 85,000 square meters. The venue may seat up to 90,000 people. Sambodromo will be used for archery and marathon events during Rio 2016.

Meanwhile, Belarusian athletes keep arriving in the capital of the 2016 Olympic Games. Swimming, judo and athletics teams have recently arrived, the NOC press center reported.

The countries’ sports executives met with the Belarusian Olympians in Rio on 4 August. NOC First Vice President Maksim Ryzhenkov and Sport and Tourism Minister Alexander Shamko held a working session with the coaching staff of the team. Chief of the Belarusian mission Alexander Gagiev reported on how the teams are preparing for the upcoming competitions.

Maksim Ryzhenkov Alexander Shamko stressed the need to perform to the top of the abilities in each discipline and show the maximum so that Belarusian fans could be proud of athletes. The First Vice President of the National Olympic Committee and the Sport and Tourism Minister also inspected the living quarters of the athletes, visited canteens, the clinic of the organizing committee and the medical center of the Belarusian team, the leisure center and attended practices.

The opening ceremony of the 31st Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be held on 6 August.