Yearly sports triumph makers

The Ministry for Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus joined the National Olympic Committee, the Presidential Sports Club, and Belteleradiocompany in organising the event hosted by Minsk’s Palace of Sports. For the first time in the history of this completion, the vote chose Olympic Vancouver freestyle jumping champion Alexey Grishin, who claimed two bronze statuettes. He was named ‘Sportsman of the Year’ and ‘Brightest Moment of the Year’. As expected, biathlete Darya Domracheva, a bronze medallist at the Winter Olympic Games in Canada, was named ‘Sportswoman of the Year’. Belarus’ national basketball women’s team, placed fourth at the World Championship, held in the Czech Republic, was recognised ‘Best Team of the Year’. Its head coach, Anatoly Buyalsky, was a laureate in the ‘Coach of the Year’ nomination while the ‘Will to Win’ prize, traditionally handed to paralympic athletes, went to skier Dmitry Loban. Despite doctors’ recommendations, he ignored his injury to participate in the ski race in Vancouver, winning bronze. 2010 Winter Games silver medallist Sergey Novikov was named ‘Breakthrough of the Year’.