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Lukashenko visits Raubichi ahead of IBU Open European Championships

MINSK, 17 February (BelTA) – Belarus President visited the Raubichi Winter Sports Center on 16 February to check its preparations for the 2020 IBU Open European Championships, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko and his team tested the tracks.

“If we take into account the current weather conditions (they say it is not an anomaly, but non-standard, atypical conditions), we must pay tribute to those who took advantage of minor frosts to stock snow,” the president said.

In his words, even the northern countries lack snow, and the International Biathlon Union addressed Belarus with a request to host the competitions, not only the European Championships but also the IBU World Cup.

“I am monitoring all these things personally. Almost every morning I am briefed on what has been done. Today I have decided to move my practice here and test the track. The track is not very good right now. It is zero [degrees] now. For amateurs it is quite hard to train, but it is okay for professional athletes. We will get the track ready. There is enough snow. A whole division of snow cannons, both ours and not ours, are standing over there,” the head of state said.

“If there is no rain, we will host the IBU European championships and the IBU World Cup at a good level. We will not let the international players down,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.
 
As BelTA reported earlier, the 2020 IBU Open European Biathlon Championships has been relocated from Estonia’s Otepaa to Raubichi due to the warm weather in Estonia. The Belarusian Sport and Tourism Ministry and representatives of the Raubichi sports center expressed their readiness to host the forum. Apart from the IBU Open European Championships, the sports center near Minsk will host the IBU World Cup on 4-7 March. The program of the tournament has been changed and will be shortened by one day.

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