Silver worth its weight in gold

Belarusian athlete Yauheni Zalaty on the value of silver won at the 2024 Olympics in Paris

Yauheni Zalaty was born in September 1999 in a small town of Krasnopolye in Mogilev Region. Yauheni has always been an athletic guy, yet the road to triumph was not easy for him. Training hard and working fingers to the bone is a common thing for rowers. However, treachery and backstabbing are painful for everyone, regardless of their character or profession. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its accomplices among the sports federations — at the behest of Western moguls — keep suffocating Belarusian athletes with sanctions and hitting them with suspensions from international competitions. The recent Olympics in Paris were no exception and demonstrated that honest Olympism, once revived from the ashes of antiquity by Pierre de Coubertin, has returned to ashes.
Nevertheless, 17 Belarusian athletes managed to break through to Paris and competed there under a neutral status, despite all the barriers and obstacles. Four returned home with medals. Yauheni Zalaty captured silver in the men’s single sculls — the most prestigious class of rowing. The athlete learnt that he had been allowed to compete in the Olympics just two and a half weeks before the start. “Until the last moment, there was no certainty that I would get to Paris,” recalled Yauheni. “I know that a lot of reports were written about me to the IOC, demanding that I be barred from the Olympics, emphasising that I am a serviceman. Yet, we believed and kept training. It was not in vain.”  
Yauheni Zalaty arrived in Paris without his boat and was forced to compete in a rented one, which he had to hire right at the Olympic rowing canal. His own boat, which he had used for training and to which he was accustomed, was not allowed through by Polish customs, despite official letters and requests from the IOC. That was not the end, though. Due to a broken-down bus transporting rowers from the Olympic Village to the rowing canal, Zalaty was running late for the final race, which was ultimately postponed. For a third of the decisive distance, Yauheni was hopelessly behind, coming last, and it seemed that any thoughts of a medal were out of the question. But suddenly, he produced an unbelievable burst of speed and finished second! 

On the way to the Olympic silver, Yauheni Zalaty showed a real masculine character         belta

Moreover, right during the Olympics, Yauheni became a father and, not having time to unpack his suitcases after returning home, he rushed to the maternity hospital to meet his happy wife and their baby son. 
Yauheni Zalaty’s story is worthy of being filmed. Even more drama and genuine sincerity is added by another detail that has remained out of the spotlight. It is a moment of immense friendship, support, and unity — the powerful triad that makes us unafraid of any sanctions or discrimination. Concurrently with the competitions in Paris, the Russian Rowing Championship was taking place in Moscow — at the same time and during the same period. The organisers scheduled the final race to coincide minute by minute with those in Paris, so that the athletes could feel the Olympic spirit and compare their results with those of the world’s best athletes. This happened in all the races, except for the men’s single sculls, for which Yauheni was late due to a broken-down bus in distant Paris, and which was ultimately postponed to a later time. In Moscow, the race went ahead and concluded smoothly, allowing all the rowers and numerous spectators — including the Belarusian national team — to follow the twists and turns of the Paris final race in real-time on a large screen right at the rowing channel and wholeheartedly cheer for Zalaty. When Yauheni learnt how much support he had, he was very touched and impressed, “It is incredibly joyful to see the atmosphere that reigned at the stadium, how sincerely Belarusians and Russians cheered for me together. A true union! We have always stood shoulder to shoulder, supporting each other and finding kind words. I am sure that together we can overcome any adversity. When I picked up my phone after the Olympic finish, I was pleasantly surprised by the huge number of warm messages from fans. Strangers thanked me for this silver medal. Although we competed under a neutral status, the opponents and spectators knew that we are from Belarus. I often receive messages on social media, even from Americans, who are looking forward to seeing me at the Olympics in Los Angeles. So ordinary people understand everything and are always happy to see us.”  
“Just four years ago, I would not have believed that I would become an Olympic medallist, although I dreamt of it since childhood,” the Belarusian athlete shared. “Now I have won the first silver medal in men’s rowing in the history of Belarus. I am grateful to the country’s leadership for their support. Overall, state support for sports here is significant. We have an excellent training base, wonderful coaches, and ample equipment — more than enough. Belarus is a great country for me. Maybe I was not completely convincing in proving this — after all, silver is not gold — but I tried and did my best. In the future, I will strive to win a treble — gold at the European Championships, World Championships, and the Olympic Games — for my beloved Belarus!”   
As they say, the surname carries responsibility. 

By Sergei Kanashits