Andrei Bahdanovich

Sport: Canoe Sprint

Born: 15 October 1987

Birthplace: Yelizovo, Osipovichi District, Mogilev Region

Honors:

Honored Master of Sport of the Republic of Belarus

Honorary citizen of Bobruisk, 2008

Career highlights:

Gold, Olympic Games in Beijing, China, 2008

Silver, Olympic Games in London, UK, 2012

Gold, 1^st European Games, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2015

Bronze, Canoe Sprint World Championships, Szeged, Hungary, 2006

Silver, Canoe Sprint World Championships, Poznan, Poland, 2010

Silver, Canoe Sprint European Championships, Belgrade, Serbia, 2011

Bronze, Canoe Sprint European Championships, Zagreb, Croatia, 2012

Silver, Canoe Sprint European Championships, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2017

Biography:

Andrei Bahdanovich was born in the town of Yelizovo, Osipovichi District, Mogilev Region, on 15 October 1987. It did not take him long to decide what he wanted to do in life - he followed in the footsteps of his elder brother and, while still at school, he took up rowing.

In 2005 Andrei Bahdanovich took silver and bronze in the C-1 event at the ICF Junior Flatwater World Championships. It was then that senior coach of the national team Nikolai Banko suggested that Andrei try to compete in C-2 events together with his brother.

The first success was not long in coming. At one of the World Cup stages, the brothers won a sensational victory. It became clear for senior members of the national team that the brothers would make excellent candidates for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. On the way to the Olympic Games the Bahdanovich brothers won the European championships in 2007 and 2008. Hard work and persistence bore fruit. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing the brothers stunned the audience with a stormy finish, which later became their hallmark. The Bahdanovich brothers strictly followed the coach’s instructions, i.e. to keep their rivals in check throughout the first 750 meters and not to let them pull away too far and then to spurt into the lead. Andrei and Aliaksandr Bahdanovich upset defending Olympic champion Germany to win a thrilling race in 3 minutes and 36.365 seconds, 0.223 seconds ahead of Christian Gille and Thomasz Wylenzek.

The Olympic Games were followed by a large number of European and world championships, where the brothers more than once proved their superiority over rivals.

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London were another milestone in their career as they added silver in the C-2 1,000m event to their impressive medal tally.

Despite their successful performance at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Serbia and the 1^st European Games in Baku, the brothers were deprived of a chance to win another Olympic medal. The entire team was banned from participating in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro due to suspicion of doping, but was later fully acquitted.

Now Andrei Bahdanovich is preparing for the upcoming Olympic Games and is training with a new partner. In 2017, Andrei Bahdanovich and Dzianis Makhlai finished second in the C2 200m event at the Canoe Sprint European Championships in Plovdiv.