The cup will stay in Mogilev

The final of the All-Belarusian cross-country run for the prizes of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House was traditionally festively held on the Dubrovenka River embankment

Nina Savina and Sergei Platonov can already be considered the faces of traditional competitions, which have been held for more than two decades with the support of our publishing house. These athletes chalked up many victories in cross-country, but this time they once again decided to take part in it. 
For Nina Savina, who missed last year’s competition due to preparations for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, it was an opportunity to test her own readiness before the first marathon in a long time, which was hosted by Mogilev on May 8th. For Sergei Platonov, who lost the race to Vyacheslav Skudny at the finish line in 2021, this is a chance to regain the championship title, and in an interesting fight not only with well-known opponents, but also with young competitors who impose a serious fight.


The 5000 metres races among men and women, in which Nina and Sergei took part, turned out to be somewhat similar. Both Savina and Platonov immediately ran away from their rivals and, lap after lap, increasing their advantage, did not allow any of the competitors to even get close to them. 
“I like this track. I constantly train on it, so I feel confident. Despite the results (Ed. note — Sergei Platonov outstripped Ilya Karnaukhov, who took second place, by almost 15 seconds, and Sergei Kravchenya, who took third place, by 22 seconds), the intensity of the rivalry was high! We now have greatly increased the results of those athletes who run medium and long distances, so we have to train even more hard,” Sergei Platonov said after the finish.
Nina Savina was also satisfied with her result. Although the runner did not conduct special preparation for the cross-country, she managed to win with a solid advantage. 
“The track is working and very worthy — it is on such that crosses should take place. Plots with mud, of course, added certain difficulties. There were small climbs, but I did not see any particular difficulty in them... In general, everything is fine!” explained Nina Savina. 
The fight in the junior races turned out to be interesting as well. In the women’s, for example, pentathlete Maria Gnedchik did not have enough to get ahead of Yulia Nedashkovskaya, who won the three-kilometre distance. In the men’s competition of this age group, Darek Dudo did not leave any chances for his rivals. Exciting struggle among boys and girls, mixed relay races, in which athletes of all ages took part... Medals, cups, diplomas and, of course, prizes from the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House have already found their owners. However, the main intrigue, perhaps, lay not even in individual competitions, but in team ones. In recent years, athletes from the Mogilev Region did not allow their rivals to take away the main trophy — the challenge cup — from the regional centre hosting the competition. They did not let that happen this time either. Since this victory was the third for Mogilev residents since the establishment of the new cup by our publishing house, the shining cup remained with the hosts of the cross for eternal storage — now it will take its place next to the very first cup, which has been awarded to the winners of the competition for many years.


“In principle, the cross-country results were not a surprise. The leaders confirmed their positions, ambitious athletes showed character and good results. Since the weather has pleased and those sections of the track that should have been very difficult turned out to be a little less difficult, the results, when compared with those that the athletes showed last year and the year before, have increased significantly,” summed up the head coach of the national athletics team (endurance sport) Andrei Gordeev. 
The Cup of Belarus and the All-Belarusian cross-country run for the prizes of the Belarus Segodnya Publishing House traditionally open the summer season and become an opportunity for athletes to test their readiness for it. The tournament ended in Mogilev was no exception. Despite the fact that Russian and Belarusian athletes are still suspended from international competitions, our runners will have a busy calendar. Andrei Gordeev says, “The statute of the Belarusian athletics league has been approved. Athletes will have many competitions, which will ‘close’ the lack of international competitions and, I think, will help our guys to realise themselves. To be honest, not so many athletes applied for participation in international competitions in the endurance sport. The rest performed at the republican competitions. For them, the created league is a great opportunity.” 
There will be many competitions, they will be intense and, importantly, showy — all main leaders will take part in them.
Starts at the stadium will begin on May 30th-31st — competitions in memory of Romuald Klim will be held in Minsk. According to Andrei Gordeev, after that, the league stages will be held almost every week. 

By Tatiana Pastushenko
Photos by Andrei Sazonov