There will be no losers

On the way to the 2nd CIS Games: outlines of future competitions

20 sports. 11 cities. Thousands of participants, spectators and volunteers. The whole of Belarus will be involved In the 2nd CIS Games, the solemn opening ceremony of which is scheduled in Minsk for August 4th, and the competition on the sports grounds will be followed far beyond its borders. But this story is not only about goals, points and seconds, it is much wider. The upcoming Games are designed to become a real colourful festival of peoples’ friendship and once again clearly outline the peace-loving position of our states: sport should unite and delight, and all victories should be won in an honest and open struggle.

The scope, of course, will be a little different from that at the 2nd CIS Games 2019, which everyone remembers, but the mood is certainly not worse. It is assumed that in the period from August 4th to 15th, the competition matrix will absorb us all at once, and we will plunge into an incredible world of emotions, bright victories and joyful experiences. It is highly likely that leading athletes will come to Belarus not only from the CIS countries, but also from other countries. In particular, such a desire was expressed by representatives of Mongolia, China, Cuba, Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and it’s not over yet — the list of participants is being formed and is not closed. According to the regulations drawn up before the first Games held in Kazan, most of the participants in the competition must be no older than 23 years. At that time, such a decision looked reasonable and logical: the competitions were scheduled for 2020 (they were postponed for a year due to the pandemic), and in the Olympic year it was not possible to attract adult athletes to the forum, and, perhaps, it did not make sense. More than 1,500 participants came to the capital of Tatarstan, including 1,100 athletes (aged 14 to 23) from 9 CIS countries (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). The games included competitions in 16 sports, in total, athletes competed for 181 sets of awards. More than 400 judges and referees worked at the competitions, as well as more than 1,000 volunteers. This is so that you understand the approximate scope of the sports festival (in Belarus there will certainly be more). Representatives of our team won 69 medals in Kazan: 8 gold, 32 silver and 29 bronze and took 5th place in the medal standings. The champions were Hleb Makaranka, Pavel Glinchuk (Greco-Roman wrestling), Fedor Koltun, Evgeny Fedorinchik, Albina Posokh (Thai boxing), Pavel Muravyov (bullet shooting, pistol), Anastasia Grishchenko (sambo) and Yelizaveta Zorkina (rhythmic gymnast, exercise with ball).

Not even a year and a half has passed since then, and so much has happened. It is unlikely that in September 2021 even the most notorious visionary could have imagined that the sports political landscape would change so dramatically.

But it happened, and today the sport is held hostage by politics and is actively used in dirty behind-the-scenes machinations. But our Games are open to all participants and fans: come, participate, watch and enjoy the spirit of true freedom and fair fight.

Memorable moments from the first Games: Yelizaveta Zorkina’s performance

The participants of the 2nd CIS Games, as before, will be mainly athletes not older than 23 years old, but, of course, it will not do without stars. The organisers continue to discuss with partners the involvement of the main compositions of the national teams in the competitions in certain sports. This, of course, will add entertainment and significance to the competition programme, as well as significantly increase the interest in what is happening, both fans and the media. So, for example, it is quite 
possible that the strongest teams will take part in competitions in karate, beach football, weightlifting, sambo, field hockey... In beach football, where the Belarusian team led by the Spanish coach Nicolas Alvarado is one of the main favourites, the composition of the participants has already been drawn up: in addition to the hosts, players from Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will compete for medals at the Olimpiysky stadium. And it will passionate — be sure!

By the way, it is worth noting a very pleasant surprise for the fans: admission to all competitions will be free!

 Leonid Anfimov, First Deputy Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, in one of his interviews noted another, apart from sports, important significance of the upcoming Games. “We must not forget,” he said, “that holding the CIS Games in the regions will reveal the tourism potential of Belarus and open it up for guests. The Sports and Tourism Ministry is developing a rich tourism programme. In addition to the goal of holding competitions at a high level, the country intends to show itself in all its glory. I hope that the guests will not be limited only to the sports arena, but will also visit Belarusian sights with pleasure. For example, guests of Soligorsk will be able to go down into the mine, in Brest they will be able to admire the beauty of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and face the heroism of the defenders of the Brest Fortress. In any city and region where the games will be held, there is something to see to discover Belarus.”
Well, they know how to welcome guests in Belarus. And there is no doubt that everyone who visits our country during the sports festival will remember Belarusian beauties, cordiality, comfort and time spent here for a long time and not without pleasure. The strongest will win, but there will be no losers.



Cities and sports in the programme of the 2nd CIS Games
Minsk — track-and-field athletics, volleyball, rhythmic gymnastics, shooting, beach football, 3x3 basketball, modern pentathlon. Borisov — mini-football. Soligorsk — freestyle, women’s and Greco-Roman wrestling: Molodechno — beach volleyball. Brest — handball and swimming. Vitebsk — Thai boxing. Orsha — boxing. Gomel — judo. Zhlobin — sambo. Grodno — field hockey and weightlifting. Mogilev — archery and karate.

By Sergey Kanashits