MINSK, 4 August (BelTA) – Belarusian rower Yauheni Zalaty clinched a single sculls silver at the Paris Olympics, although he was not able to compete in his boat because of Poland, BelTA learned from Andrei Shchemelev, senior coach of Belarus' national team, who has been working directly with Yauheni Zalaty and who discovered him.
“We were working really hard, we were getting ready for this. We set a goal to win. But after the semi-final, I realized that the second place was just as likely as the sixth. We were up against a very strong field. So many factors were at play, including a mental state. Yes, a podium-finish was just as possible as a no-podium finish. The final race was very strenuous,” said Andrei Shchemelev, when asked whether Yauheni Zalaty's medal was expected.
However, the path to the medal was very thorny, as there were many hurdles along the way. “We succeeded against all the odds,” the coach noted. In particular, there were issues with obtaining admission to the international competition.
Another difficulty was to find the equipment for the race. “We wanted to go to the Olympics with our boats. The Olympic Committee helped us with this. However, at the border with Poland, customs officers turned us away, saying that we could not go in with sports equipment, with a trailer (it did not matter whether it was private or state-owned),” said Andrei Shchemelev.
According to him, the explanation offered by the Belarusians was ignored by the Polish customs officers. The athletes had to fly by plane and rent equipment. Although this was not so easy.
Yauheni Zalaty uses a rowing boat from the German company Empacher. When the company refused to provide a boat, the Olympic Committee intervened to help the Belarusians out. “A call was issued to provide such a boat. Some people responded, in particular, from France. One person offered their boat. Fortunately, the rental issue was resolved. The manufacturer finally agreed to provide the boat,” the coach said.
A reminder, Belarusian rower Yauheni Zalaty became the silver medalist of the Paris Olympics.
Yauheni Zalaty joined the competitions a week ago by securing a victory in the preliminary heat. The Belarusian beat the quarterfinal race on 30 July and went to the finals on 1 August after getting the second best time in the semifinal race. In the final race Yauheni Zalaty was sixth before the finish line, but in the final leg of the distance he outpaced almost all his rivals and eventually won silver clocking 6:42.96. German Oliver Zeidler became the champion while the Dutch rower Simon van Dorp took bronze.
This silver is Belarus’ first Olympic medal in rowing since the 2008 Beijing Games. Yauheni Zalaty was the first man to win an Olympic rowing medal in Belarus’ sovereign history. The second place at the Olympics is so far the biggest achievement for Yauheni Zalaty. Last year the Belarusian athlete was seventh at the world championships. This season he was fifth at the European championships and third at one of the stages of the World Cup.
Photos by Denis Kostyuchenko and Maksim Guchek
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