Team of magicians

Our biathletes have already won six medals at the Cup of the Strongest Athletes

The full set of awards has been secured twice! Belarusian biathletes made a brilliant start at the Cup 
of the Strongest Athletes in Raubichi. Anton Smolski became a two-time winner of the competition and received special praise from the President. “I congratulate you on your first confident victories at the Biathlon Cup of the Strongest Athletes. I wish you and the whole team to perform just as brilliantly in the rest of the races in front of your fans in Raubichi. Wish you good health, good luck and new successes!" the congratulatory message from Aleksandr Lukashenko reads.

Anton Smolski's triumph 

Our biathletes had missed the competitions in their native Raubichi. Dzinara Smolskaya, who lost just a bit to Russia’s Natalia Shevchenko and became the silver medallist in the sprint, said, “I am very pleased that we are finally competing at home. Last year, I missed the starts because I had just become a mum. Now I have warm feelings — I am glad that so many fans have come to support us, that we receive so much attention from journalists, and, of course, that we are holding a celebration for all of us! Even when I was going to the race, we took pictures with the fans, exchanged warm words with them. All this is a breath of happiness this season!” 
The atmosphere at Raubichi was truly amazing. The stands were full of fans who, despite the increasing frost, did not spare their voices supporting the athletes. Dzinara got a lot of applause after the women’s sprint, and Anton Smolski and Ilya Auseyenka — after the men’s sprint. The leader of the Belarusian team, who handled shooting flawlessly and prevailed over his rivals at a distance, admitted that it was one of those perfect races that you want to enter as an asset. Nevertheless, Anton knows where he can add to become even stronger. Ilya Auseyenka gave a brief summary of his somewhat sensational success (and, by the way, the first podium this season): he gave his best. 
The next day, the biathletes consolidated their success in the pursuit races, winning another full set of awards. Dzinara Smolskaya took silver again — only on the last lap was Natalia Shevchenko able to beat her and achieve a ‘golden’ double in Raubichi. Anton Smolski won a landslide victory and finished with the flag. In the final metres of the race, another Belarusian biathlete, Stsiapan Danilau, also took up the flag, completing the top three and finishing the race behind Russia’s Karim Khalili. Notably, following the results of the pursuit race, two more of our athletes got into the flower ceremony — Maksim Varabei and Ilya Auseyenka, who took fifth and sixth places, respectively.
“I have managed to win the first medal, but the tournament is not over so I will continue to fight!” Stsiapan Danilau said after the award ceremony.

“We trained a lot and, as we can see from the results of the races, we did everything right. These medals are the result of our work, self-belief, the support of the fans, the work of the service staff and our entire team — the team of magicians!”

Cup of Strongest Athletes international biathlon competitions at Raubichi 

On February 20th, fans will see biathletes compete for medals in the single mixed relay, and on February 22nd — in the mixed relay. On February 23rd, the Cup of the Strongest Athletes will conclude with mass starts. 

By Tatiana Pastushenko

Photos by Yegor Yermalitsky