Agrik has become the mascot of the National Olympic team of Belarus for the third time
On February, 5 a festive ceremony dedicated to the send-off of the Belarusian sportsdelegation for the second Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer took place in theheadquarters of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus. According to the tradition,Agrik has become the mascot of the Belarusian sport team that brought success to theBelarusian National team in 2015 during the I European Games in Baku and the XIIISummer European Youth Olympic festival in Tbilisi.
Members of the sports delegation, famous Belarusian sportsmen and coaches, representatives ofthe National Olympic Committee of Belarus and the Ministry of sport and tourism of theRepublic of Вelarus, sports federations, UNICEF, partners of the National Olympic Committeeelarus, sports federations, UNICEF, partners of the National Olympic Committeeand journalists took part in the festive ceremony.
A festive ceremony dedicated to the send-off of the Belarusian sports delegation for the secondWinter Youth Olympic Games 2016 in Lillehammer gathered under the roof of the Hall of sportsfame of the National Olympic Committee a large number of sportsmen and guests
Belarusian sportsmen as a separate team took part in the Olympic Games in Lillehammer in 1994for the first time. They won 2 silver medals, one medal was won by a biathlete SvetlanaParamygina and the other one was won by an ice-skater Igor Zhelezovskij.Now young and promising sportsmen are going to a Norwegian city to participate and to winmedals at the second Winter Youth Olympic Games which will be held on February 12-21, 2016.The National Olympic team of Belarus consists of 16 sportsmen (8 men, 8 women) that will take
part in the competitions in 7 sports types: biathlon, mountain skiing, speed skiing, speed skating,snowboarding – slopestyle, figure skating (ice-dancing), ice hockey (personal skill)
Young sportsmen that will participate in the second Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer
Biathlon will be represented by sportsmen Matskevich Alexander, Turin Kirill, KarnitskayaNatalia, Ieropes Darya, speed skiing – Koroleva Anna, Laskin Timur, ice hockey (ice hockeyskills competition) – Pavlenko Andrei, Maksimchuk Darya, figure skating (ice-dancing) –Koleganova Emilia, Polchovskij Vladislav, speed skating – Bolgov Evgeniy, Rudenko Viktor,Vorobyova Evgenia, Nifontova Anna, snowboarding – Muravskaya Darina, mountain skiing –Chertin Vladislav.
Svetlana Paramygina, an honored master of sports, Olympic silver medalist in sprint in 1994,three-time world champion, winner of the World Cup season 1993/1994 in her speech withyoung Olympians emphasized:
– The upcoming Olympic Games in Lillehammer are only the beginning and a part of their longsport journey where even most difficult results and goals can be reached. It is very essential toaim for victory confidently, to be internally focused, and to be able to overcome the excitementduring the competition. These are the main factors for your long and successful sport career.
Siarhei Chuhai, Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC Belagroprombank wished youngsportsmen confidence in themselves and successful competitions
– JSC Belagroprombank, being the General partner of the National Olympic Committee, admitswith pleasure that our mutual projects provide good results, – Siarhei Chuhai emphasized in hisspeech with young Olympians:
– I can assure you that Agrik has been the lucky mascot for those who got it before importantstarts. 50 medals have been won by our sportsmen during the European Games in Baku andYouth Olympic festival in Tbilisi in 2015. And we really hope that with the help of Agrik you willhonorably demonstrate what you have been taught by your coaches during the upcoming WinterYouth Olympic Games in Lillehammer.
Siarhei Chuhai has presented Maksim Ryzhenkov with Agrik decorated with a logo of Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer and a memorable diploma which will be placed in the museum of the National Olympic Committee of Belarus as a symbol of mutual fruitful cooperation
Winners and prizewinners of the Republican drawing contest “Olympic fire lights hearts”, aswell as their representatives were presented with Agrik
Awarding of the winners and prizewinners of the Republican drawing contest “Olympic firelights hearts” held by the National Olympic Committee of Belarus among Belarusian childrenand youth also took place during the festive ceremony dedicated to the send-off of the Belarusiansports delegation for the second Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer. The aim of the contest was the involvement of the younger generation to the ideals and values of the Olympicmovement.
29 sets of awards in 15 sports types will be raffled during the second Winter Youth OlympicGames in Lillehammer. More than 1100 young athletes from 70 countries, at the age of 15–18years old will take part in the Olympic Games. During the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in2012 in Innsbruck the Republic of Belarus was represented by 16 athletes in 8 sports types. Ourathletes won 2 medals: 1 gold and 1 silver medal. Figure skaters Yevgeny Tkachenko and YuriGulitsky won first place in the mixed team and a silver medal was won by an ice skater RomanDubovik. Belagroprombank wishes young sportsmen good luck and success at the OlympicGames in Lillehammer!
