MINSK, 28 August (BelTA) – The 2024 Summer Paralympics officially got underway in Paris on 28 August. Eight Belarusians will participate in the Games as neutral athletes, BelTA has learned.
According to Secretary General of the Belarusian Paralympic Committee Nikolai Shudeiko, all Belarusian athletes have successfully passed accreditation and are preparing to show the top of their game at the upcoming sports events. The swimming competitions will feature 16-time Paralympic champion Ihar Boki, as well as Dzmitry Salei, Maksim Vashkevich, Yahor Shchalkanau, Anastasiya Zudzilava and the only debutant in the competitions Yauheni Kavalionak. Yelizaveta Dobrovolskaya will compete in javelin throw and Vladislav Grib in club throw.
The Belarusian Paralympians debuted as an independent team at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and two years later, the Belarusian Paralympic team competed at the Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, USA.
The Belarusian Paralympian team showed their best performance at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, when they clinched 29 medals (10 gold, 12 silver, 7 bronze). At the Games in Tokyo, the Belarusian team won 7 medals (5, 1, 1).
The 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris will be held in the same venues as the recent Olympic Games. More than 4,000 Paralympians from 182 countries will compete for 549 sets of medals across 22 sports. The Games will end on 8 September.