Opinions & Interviews

New minister wants next winter Olympics to be more successful for Belarus

MINSK, 5 March (BelTA) – The next Olympic Winter Games should be more successful for Belarus, Sergei Kovalchuk, who has been appointed Belarus’ Sport and Tourism Minister, told the media.

“Sport is big politics. This is ideology,” he said. The new minister pointed out that there are a lot of problems in the winter sports in the country today. “We are set to hold a meeting with the participation of coaches and sports federations and set the tasks that need to be addressed in the summer, so that next Olympic Winter Games should be more successful for Belarus,” Sergei Kovalchuk noted.

The minister intends to pay special attention to the development of mass sports. He added that he got acquainted with foreign experience in this regard and explained why mass sports is so important. The way to the elite sport lies only through mass sport. “In mass sport, we can find those people, those athletes who can show the results. And this is something we need today,” the minister said.

According to Sergei Kovalchuk, there are a lot of problems in the sector and it will take time to address them. He also emphasized that the authorities pay a lot of attention to both professional and mass sport. 

According to the new minister, there are very few people indifferent to sport in the country. A lot can be achieved through joint efforts. “I am not going to promise anything. Everyone, from the minister to a school teacher, needs to work hard, and then the results will come. Sport means a healthy nation,” Sergei Kovalchuk.

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