MINSK, 27 February (BelTA) – Olympic trampoline gold medalist Vladislav Goncharov and three-time Olympic biathlon champion Darya Domracheva were named the best athletes of 2015-2016 following the Triumph. Sports Heroes competition voting, BelTA has learned.
The winners were announced at an official ceremony in Minsk on 25 February.
The best athletes were announced by Chairman of the Presidential Sports Club Dmitry Lukashenko. He expressed gratitude to the parents of the athletes and noted that this nomination is among the most important as the athletes is expected to show their best and meet the fans' expectations.
Vladislav Goncharov won the trampoline gold at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It was the only gold medal claimed by the Belarusian team at the 2016 Games.
“This award is an Oscar for the athlete in the Belarusian sports. The statuette even resembles the well-known cinematography award. To be honest, I was worried quite about my speech but I think I managed to do it well,” said Vladislav Goncharov.
Biathlete Darya Domracheva was named the best athlete after triumphing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, winning the Big Crystal Globe in the 2014-2015 IBU World Cup overall standings, and turning back to biathlon after giving birth to her daughter to claim the pursuit silver at the 2017 IBU World Championships Biathlon in Hochfilzen.
Darya Domracheva is currently in Pyeongchang gearing up for the next IBU World Cup leg. She addressed her fans through a video conference. “Thank you everyone who voted for me. The recognition of the fans adds motivation to perform and demonstrate better results,” the biathlete said.
Olga Vlasova, the coach of Olympic champion Vladislav Goncharov, was named the Best Coach.
The women's K4 team of Olga Khudenko, Margarita Makhneva, Marina Litvinchuk and Nadezhda Lepeshko was voted the Team of the Years 2015-2016 after winning bronze at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro and claiming the champion title in 2015.
Wrestler Maria Mamoshuk won in the Breakthrough of the Year nomination. The athlete clinched the Olympic silver in Rio and claimed gold at the 2015 European Wrestling Championships. Six-time Paralympic champion in Rio Igor Boki was named the best in the Will to Victory nomination. The athlete has won 11 gold medals so far.
Sambo wrestler Stepan Popov won in the Best Sports Moment of the Year nomination. Once the battle was over in the final event at the European Games in Baku it turned out that the Azerbaijani athlete was injured and could not get up. The Belarusian sambo fighter showed his human side by carrying his opponent off the mat.
Marina Arzamasova was acclaimed for the Best Result of the Year after taking the world champion title in the 800m event in Beijing in 2015.
The voting stayed open through 31 January. Nominees were chosen in four categories: Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, Female Athlete of the Year, and Male Athlete of the Year.
The winners in the categories Result of the Year, Breakthrough of the Year, Best Sports Moment of the Year, Will to Victory were determined by a professional jury.
The winners were announced at an official ceremony at Falcon Club. The ceremony was broadcast by Belarus 1 and Belarus 24 TV channels.
The open public contest Triumph. Sports Heroes was held for the sixth time. The contest took place in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014. In 2008 the organizers decided to make it a traditional biennial event to take stock of the Olympic season. Starting from 2016 the contest will assess athletes' performance within the past two years.
Among the organizers of the project are the National State TV and Radio Company, the Presidential Sports Club, the Belarusian Sports and Tourism Ministry and the National Olympic Committee.
