Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 13 January (BelTA) – Belarus is ready to provide assistance to the International Biathlon Union (IBU) in hosting any of the union’s World Cup events, First Vice President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus Maxim Ryzhenkov said as he met with IBU Secretary General Nicole Resch, BelTA learnt from the press service of the NOC.

Maxim Ryzhenkov handed over to Nicole Resch a letter from Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko to the address of IBU President Anders Besseberg with a proposal to hold any IBU World Cup event, both on a regular basis and in case of necessity due to weather or other conditions, at the Raubichi Winter Olympic Training Center.

IBU Secretary General thanked the Belarusian side for the initiative and expressed confidence that the International Biathlon Union and the National Biathlon Federation would work through all technical details in the area. “We are happy that biathlon is one of the most popular sports in Belarus and the country attaches close attention to its development. Although the IBU World Cup timetable is full until 2019 it is important for us to know that we can count on your support in any force-majeure circumstances,” said Nicole Resch.

The International Biathlon Union will welcome Belarus’ corresponding application to host top level biathlon tournaments starting from 2019. The application will be considered at the nearest IBU meeting.

In her words, IBU praises Belarus’ organization of such recent events as the 2015 IBU Youth/Junior World Championships and the Legend Race – Biathlon Stars for Peace which gathered thousands of fans. It is important to continue attaching serious attention to the organization of youth tournaments.

Maxim Ryzhenkov expressed Belarus’ readiness to host any necessary IBU inspections to study the infrastructure and officially decide on Raubichi as a reserve venue for biathlon events. Maxim Ryzhenkov assured the IBU Secretary General in the ability of the center to host any large-scale sports events.

The parties also discussed the possibility of implementing, jointly with IBU, biathlon development projects, including technical courses for specialists, training camps, commissions’ and working groups’ meetings. Today Maxim Ryzhenkov is expected to meet with IBU President Anders Besseberg.

The Belarusian delegation led by the First Vice President of the Belarusian National Olympic Committee was given a tour around the biathlon stadium in Ruhpolding, met with athletes and specialists of the national team.

The BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon 5 will be held in Ruhpolding on 13-17 January.