Press releases

GRODNO, 11 February (BelTA) - Grodno will bid for the right to host a top-level athletics tournament in 2017, Oleg Andreichik, the head of sports and tourism department of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee, told reporters, BelTA has learnt.

"We received an offer to participate in the bidding to host European Cup 10,000m in 2017. Grodno CSK Neman is one of the best athletics stadiums in the country, so we hope for the outcome will be positive for us. We have already hosted various competitions of the highest level such as the World Fire and Rescue Sport Championship, world kettlebell lifting cup,” said Oleg Andreichik.

There are plans to make Grodno Oblast a sports center not only for Belarusian athletes but also for athletes from frontier regions of the neighboring states. For this purpose the work is in progress to create and expand the infrastructure.

"Over the past five years, nearly 100 sports facilities have been built. All in all, there are around 3,000 sports facilities in the region. The goal is to utilize them at 100%. So far they are used at about 70%. We have been working to host more sports events and create decent conditions so that more local residents can go in for sports,” said Oleg Andreichik.

Grodno Oblast also focuses on the creation of sports facilities within walking distance. This will increase the coverage of people involved in mass sports. At the end of 2015 about 200,000 residents of Grodno Oblast did sport on a regular basis (23% of the population of the region).