MINSK, 23 August (BelTA) - Belarusian athletes have arrived in Paris for the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, which are kicking off on 28 August, Secretary General of the Belarusian Paralympic Committee Nikolai Shudeiko told BelTA.
The Belarusian team traveled to the French capital via Istanbul, he said. All eight athletes have received accreditation and will perform in a neutral status. All Belarusian Paralympians are determined to show their best at the Games, Nikolai Shudeiko said.
The swimming competition in Paris will feature 16-time Paralympic champion Ihar Boki, the only debutant of the Games Yauheni Kavalionak, as well as Dzmitry Salei, Maksim Vashkevich, Yahor Shchalkanau and Anastasiya Zudzilava. The athletics tournament will feature Lizaveta Dabravolskaya (javelin throw) and Uladzislau Hryb (hammer throw).
Belarusians debuted as an independent team at the Winter Paralympics in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994, and two years later representatives of summer sports participants at the Olympics in Atlanta, the USA. Belarusians achieved the best medal result at the 2004 Athens Summer, winning 29 (10 gold, 12 silver, 7 bronze) medals. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, the Belarusian team had seven (5, 1, 1) medals.
The Paralympics in Paris will be held from 28 August to 8 September in the same arenas that hosted the recent Olympic Games. Over 4,000 athletes from 182 countries will be competing in 549 events across 22 different sports.
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