Beijing 2022 Results of Day 4: Thank you for your support, Belarusians!

8 February 2022 will go down in history of Belarusian sport as the day when Belarus won its first medal at Beijing 2022.

In the Men’s 20km Individual biathlete Anton Smolski looked strong and confident throughout the entire race. His success is reminiscent of Vancouver 2010 where another Belarusian biathlete Sergey Novikov clinched silver in the same event. Anton Smolski came in second behind this season’s World Cup leader Quentin Fillon Maillet.

“I am absolutely happy about my accurate shooting today, I am happy to win a medal for the country, for my loved ones, to give them a lot of joyful emotions. I am grateful to my team. This is an incredible work of coaches, ski techs. Our plan worked out. I am happy beyond words today! Best regards to my parents, Belarusian National Technical University. Thank you for your support, Belarusians!”.

Thanks to the success of Anton Smolski the race turned out to be upbeat and emotional for Belarusian biathletes. However, head coach Andrei Padin looked measured and calm as he analyzed the performance of the athletes: “We still have important events ahead, so we need to stay focused and continue to show good results. Anton Smolski had a great race on 8 February. I never saw him so cool-headed and collected. He performed at the Individual race at the Olympics as if it was a practice session, smartly and effectively, which allowed him to make it to the podium. Other guys stumbled in shooting. We will conduct a thorough analysis to make sure they do not make such mistakes in the future," he said. 

Belarusian figure skater Konstantin Milyukov left the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing in high spirits. He did not make serious mistakes in the short program and made it to the free skate, which is scheduled for 10 February.

Yahor Shpuntau competed in the Men's Sprint Free Qualification, Cross-Country Skiing. The young athlete was the only Belarusian in the team who was able to clear the Covid protocol. He was hardly expected to take high places. The 53rd place in the qualification can be perceived as an experience for the career development. The winner of the Men's Sprint Free was Johannes Klebo of Norway. 

Day 4 of the Winter Olympics turned out to be a men's and medal-earning day for Belarusians. We hope that our athletes will be able to continue their successful performance at the Olympic Games in China.

Press department of the NOC Belarus

Photos by the NOC Belarus