Sports Ministry lists major sports competitions to be hosted by Belarus in 2024
This year will be full of sporting events – including the Olympics, BRICS Games, World Friendship Games, and a number of world and European championships in various sports. Belarusians will compete for awards among other athletes as well, but the republic is also scheduled to host a number of international competitions.
Yevgeny Zalessky, the Head of the Main Department of Planning and Organisational Work at Belarus’ Sports and Tourism Ministry, commented, “The International Sambo Tournament for the Prizes of the President of the Republic of Belarus kicked off on February 8th, and it will be then followed by the Belneftekhim Women's Cup (wrestling), two stages of the Pavel Lednev Cup (modern pentathlon), the Friendship Cup, the Belarus Open Karate Tournament, the Khalipsky Cup, and the Vladimir Ryzhenkov International Basketball Tournament. In addition, we will host the Crystal Rose Rhythmic Gymnastics Tournament, the Viktor Liventsev Memorial Tournament (boxing), the Grand Prix in Freestyle Wrestling for the Prizes of Aleksandr Medved, the Greco-Roman Wrestling Tournament in memory of Oleg Karavaev, the CIS Taekwondo Cup, and more.”
Mr. Zalessky stressed that Belarus is ready to host major sporting events, and this is confirmed by the previously held competitions: 2014 World Hockey Championship, the 2nd European Games of 2019, the 2nd CIS Games of 2023.
“The CIS Games were held in a new format: simultaneously in ten cities. This made it possible to demonstrate that not only Minsk and its sports facilities are ready to host large-scale sports events, that not only the Belarusian capital has specialists ready to organise them at the highest level: the tourist potential and beauty of Belarus, the friendliness of its people were shown,” the official noted.
Dinamo National Olympic Stadium will be one of the venues to host national and international competitions. Its General Director, Aleksandr But-Gusaim, informed that the preliminary calendar includes home matches of Dinamo Minsk FC, the national athletics championship, the Spartakiad of the Union State in athletics, football media league competitions, and the Minsk Half Marathon. “Last year, runners appreciated the idea of finishing in the centre of the stadium. We plan to increase the number of participants in 2024, also giving them the opportunity to feel the atmosphere of the stadium and to finish in its heart,” he said.
