What are the chances of the Belarusian team at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The Winter Olympics will begin on February 4 in China. The unanimous forecast for the national team: there are only two sports in Belarus that can win medals – freestyle and biathlon. Nothing new, that’s how it usually goes. Euroradio.fm An expert from the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation, who has worked with winter sports for several years, spoke in more detail about the types of medals we have.

– It’s all right, really. We count medals in only two sports: biathlon and freestyle. The most positive forecast: three medals. And the fact that they appeared, you have to try very hard. There is a good chance that these games do not occur when receiving a reward. But I have no doubt that in this case the Minister of Sports Sergey Kovalchuk find a positive trend.

There are two biathletes in the Belarusian national team who have good effects from exporting the World Cup – Anna Sola and Dinara Alimbekova. By the last stage before the Olympics, they occupy more than sixth position in the overall standings. Anna Sola took off in this case: she won six medals. The expert says that this is the best hope.

Just the other day, recommendations were made to the starting lineup of Belarusian biathletes. Instead of Irina Kruchinkina flies Alina Pilchuk. As Irina says, the reason is better shooting. Although the non-state media are not known to postscript that both athletes signed pro-government letters.

“She shoots well, and my shooting has left me, I can’t find her. I don’t understand what’s going on,” Kruchinkina commented. And indeed, Pilchuk closes 90% of the targets, which is the best indicator in the Belarusian faith.

But it’s all psychological pressure. It is even observed among those athletes who support the authorities of Belarus. Genocide. Already, the authorities have begun cracking down on even those who support them. Athletes are pleasant, as colleagues are fired next to them, who did not speak out against the authorities. The nuts are tightened for everyone, and in such conditions it is almost impossible to tune in.

Another additional psychological pressure is the covid unknown that athletes go to.

“The track is unfamiliar, no one escaped there, no one participated. There was no previous Olympic week due to COVID. We are going into the unknown,” said the chief of the mission of the Belarusian delegation at the Games. Alexander Gagiev.

But there is something more powerful than COVID – the manipulation of test results.

No one gives guarantees that the Chinese government will not want to “clear” the way to the podium for their athletes. Russia was not shy in 2014 to “work” with the results of doping tests. Let’s see what happens there, but the fact that the ability to give positive test results for covid to the “necessary” athletes hides a lot of potential is a fact.”

Will there be freestylers with medals again? Or not?

Belarusian freestylers came with medals from every Olympics. But this time Belarus may fail, according to the Sports Solidarity Fund. The fact is that Belarus has lost two figures: Alexandra Romanovskaya and Nicholas Kozeko. Both spoke out against violence and the mass spread of the people after the events of August 2020.

“He is being made into an outcast. But he’s holding on. It is nonsense that a person with such experience was isolated from mastering the process, daily communication, ”Vadim Krivosheev, ex-director of the freestyle RCOP, told the media. Now Kozeko serves as a consultant, giving informal advice.

“I will be surprised if we have medals in Beijing. I hope my prediction will not come true, but so far there are almost no prerequisites for otherwise. It is probably more important today for athletes and coaches to be silent than for Belarus to develop successfully at the Games,” Krivosheev believes.

Recall that the winter games will be held from 4 to 20 February. A total of 29 Belarusian athletes will go to the Winter Olympics. They compete in six sports: biathlon, cross-country skiing, freestyle, skiing and speed skating, and figure skating.

The smallest number of participants was 2014, when Belarus at the Olympic Games in Sochi can be found 26 people in five sports.

“Games in such conditions are thin ice, on which anything can happen, but definitely not the enchanting success of the Olympians,” concludes the expert of the Sports Solidarity Foundation.