The Belarusian capital has already hosted many events with the support of the ISU: the World Junior Figure Skating Championships and a stage of the Junior World Cup Speed Skating. This January, Minsk saw the strongest speed skaters in Europe, competing for medals in the classic all-round event.
The head coach of Belarus’ national short track team, Lyudmila Sergeeva, believes that the organisation of the home event will give an impetus to the development of the sport. “At present, athletes from South Korea, China, Canada, Russia and the Netherlands are trend setters in short track. After the Olympiad in Sochi the sport received recognition in Europe and at the 2014 Olympic Games two Belarusian sportsmen competed. We hope to qualify to send up to 4 skaters to the 2018 Olympiads, played at the World Cup stages next year. The national squad is training at Minsk-Arena’s speed skating stadium, as well as at the Ice Sports Palace in Vitebsk and the Ice Arena in Orsha. We hope that short track will gain popularity in Belarus.”
By Yegor Leshin
