Lausanne 2020. Belarusian skaters were a step away from the podium in the mass start at the YOG

On the seventh competitive day of the III Winter Youth Olympic Games Belarusian skaters challenged for the awards.

Four of our athletes performed on the frozen lake in St. Moritz. Varvara Bandarina and Max Fiodarau reached the final of the mass start.

Boys were the first to perform in the final round in the contention for the medals. Max Fiodarau pleasantly surprised his competitors who leaded in the intermediate segments for quite a long time. However, right before the finish line stronger sprinters made a decisive acceleration. As a result, Max Fiodarau finished the race in 4th place. The first place was taken by Motonaga Arito from Japan, the second was Diego Amaya Martinez from Colambia, and the third was Pavel Taran from Russia.

“The mass start was a tough competition for me. I fell during the semifinals and there was a chance to miss the decisive stage, but the main opponents were far behind me and the points I scored were enough to qualify for the final. I knew that this was my last chance, there was a moment when I was far away from my opponents, but I know them very well and I was sure that it will be difficult right before the finish line. So I'm fourth... It's a good result for me since the opponents are strong,” said Max Fiodarau.

In the girls's final mass start Varvara Bandarina also made an attempt to create an advantage from the first meters after the start. In the tactical struggle of the final round the opponents of the Belarusian athlete were more successful. Varvara Bandarina is took 4th place in the final protocol. The gold medal won Binyu Yang from China, silver medal received Zuzanna Kursova from the Czech Republic. Italian Katia Filippi became the bronze medalist of the mass start.

"Frankly speaking, I didn't expect that it's possible for me to show such a good result. This is my first time competing on the lake. It is very beautiful here, though it’s cold. I’m not used to such conditions. But glad to be on such a high place. Now we should prepare for the home junior stage of the World Cup in Minsk, as well as for the junior world championship in Poland. These two important starts will be held in February,” – said Varvara Bandarina.

The coach of the Belarusian skaters Ruslan Tabolich summed up the results of the athletes at the III Winter Youth Olympic Games.

“I think we performed well in the mass start. After the individual races of 500 m and 1500 m, Belarusian athletes redeemed at the end of the competition program. Such results will make our juniors believe that it is possible to compete with any strong competitor,” – said the coach.

After seven days of competition, the Belarusian team won two awards at the III Winter Olympic Games in Lausanne: Ilya Korzun took gold in 3x3 hockey and Yulia Kovalevskaya recieved bronze.

Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne will end on January 22.

For more information contact the press secretary of the NOC of Belarus Victoria Mennanova (+375291708753, Telegram, Viber, WhatsApp).

Press Service of the NOC  Belarus

Photo: The NOC  Belarus and olympic.org