MINSK DISTRICT, 21 February (BelTA) – Belarusian biathletes who won medals at the Best Athletes Cup in Raubichi - Anton Smolski and Dzinara Smolskaya, Hanna Sola and Ilya Auseyenka - received gifts from Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko. The gifts from the head of state were presented to the athletes by Sports and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk, BelTA has learned.
The meeting was held in an informal setting. In order not to distract the biathletes from the training process (the tournament in Raubichi is still underway), the minister arrived directly at the sports complex where the athletes are currently living and training.
“I am here on behalf of our head of state, Aleksandr Grigorievich Lukashenko. You know how much he loves sports and biathlon in particular. He keeps his tabs on developments in biathlon and all the competitions you participate in, he is rooting for you, he cares about results. And he congratulates you on your successful performance at the Cup of the Strongest Athletes,” said Sergei Kovalchuk.
The president congratulated member of the national biathlon team Antol Smolski on his victories in the first days of the competition, immediately after his first wins. “Dear Anton! Congratulations on your first solid victories at the Best Athletes Cup. I wish you and the whole team to perform just as brilliantly in the remaining races on the home ground in front of your fans in Raubichi. We wish you health, good luck and new successes!” the message of congratulations read.
“You have done a great job!” said Sergei Kovalchuk at the meeting with the athletes. “Thank you very much. And here is an exclusive gift from the leader of our country.” The biathletes received an impressive-sized set of Belarusian chocolates of the PRESIDENT brand and an assortment of sweets from the United Arab Emirates, that were presented to Aleksandr Lukashenko by the leader of this country during a recent visit.
“This will give you an energy boost,” the minister noted.
“It's almost like strength training,” the biathletes responded humorously, holding the heavy gifts in their hands.
According to the minister, all the fans were excitedly watching the performance of the Belarusian biathletes at the competitions in Raubichi, especially when our athletes were literally a few tenths of a second away from the coveted medals. “I wish you to always have 0.3 seconds in your favor in all competitions where you participate,” said Sergei Kovalchuk. “We hope that in the future you will only improve your game and the results will be better. We believe in you,” he added.
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