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Sport in Belarus

Physical education and competitive sport have long been a priority for Belarus, as reflected in its world-class training facilities and international sporting achievements

Sports facilities in Belarus

The government policy is to make sports accessible to all in Belarus, and this means that the country has excellent sporting facilities in pre-schools, schools and higher education facilities.

There are 26,000 sports facilities in Belarus for general public that include:

243 stadiums
278 swimming pools
5,140 gymnasiums
722 swimming pools in kindergartens
46 athletics centres
27 ice rinks
12,212 sports grounds

Raubichi Centre

The National Winter Olympic Training Center Raubichi is considered one of the best biathlon centers in the world.

Raubichi facilities include:

6.2km roller ski track
20.5km ski tracks
shooting grounds
indoor skating rink with locker rooms, a sauna, a gym, a cafe, equipment rentals
gyms
150m ski track
freestyle skiing slope
synthetic tennis courts
outdoor playground
equipment rentals

Apart from sports facilities, the National Winter Olympic Training Center Raubichi has two 4-star hotels, restaurants, cafes, conference rooms.

Professional sports in Belarus

Belarus has extensive training facilities for professional sportsmen and women.

These include:

Belarusian State University of Physical Education
11 Olympic-standard colleges
165 Olympic-standard specialised schools
Over 250 youth sports schools

Belarus has already produced 280 world and European champions in a wide range of sporting disciplines.

Belarus and the Olympics

The country has an excellent record at the Olympic Games. 69 Belarusians have so far claimed Olympic champion titles.

Belarusians first took part in the Olympics in the 1952 Helsinki games, as part of a combined USSR team.

The country has an excellent record at the Olympic games. The first independent Belarus Olympic team took part in the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer and won two silver medals.

In the Beijing 2008 games, Belarus won 19 medals, including 4 gold and 5 silver. The team was most successful in athletics, canoeing and weightlifting, and finished 16th in the medals table overall.

Belarus also joined the list of champions at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games with a gold in freestyle, silver and bronze in biathlon.

At the London 2012 Summer Olympics Belarusian athletes won a total of 12 medals including 2 golds and 5 silvers. Belarus ranked 26rd in the Olympic medal count.

There are 3 Olympic training centres in Belarus, in Stayki, Raubichi and Ratomka.

Many famous Olympians have come from Belarus.

Belarus and the Paralympics

Belarus also fields a strong Paralympics team. At the 2008 Beijing Paralympics Belarus won a total of 13 medals including 5 golds. At the 10th Winter Paralympics in Canada in 2010 Belarusian athletes took 9 medals (2 golds, 7 bronzes) landing 9th in the overall medal standings, repeating their success in Turin in 2006 (1 gold, 6 silvers and 2 bronzes).

With ten medals (five golds, two silvers and three bronzes) Belarus finished 25th in the medal table of the 14th Summer Paralympics. Out of 10 medals six were brought to Belarus by swimmer Igor Boki in S13 and SM13 classifications.