MINSK, 12 May (BelTA) - More than 25% of Belarusians are regularly engaged in physical activity and sports, Belarus' First Deputy Sport and Tourism Minister Vyacheslav Durnov told a press conference held at the National Press Center of Belarus to mark Day of Physical Culture and Sports, BelTA has learned.
“A total of 25.3% of Belarusians do sport on a regular basis. The figures are composed by the Statistical Committee on the basis of the data provided by the relevant specialized organizations. We can question this statistics, but it is obvious that it approximately corresponds to the state of affairs in this area in our country. Healthy lifestyle is becoming quite popular in Belarus and we are happy about it,” said Vyacheslav Durnov.
The first deputy minister believes that such an increase in the number of people exercising regularly is attributed among other things to the construction of new sport facilities, infrastructure development and the organization of various competitions.
“We have 144 municipal and district healthcare and sport centers. More than 2,000 sports clubs have been set up,” Vyacheslav Durnov told the media.
Speaking about the number of sport mass events held in Belarus in 2020, the first deputy minister admitted that the pandemic had made adjustments and there had been three times fewer such events than the year before.
“As part of the calendar, the country held 64 national sporting events, with the participation of more than 24,000 people. That is, however, three times fewer than in 2019. The pandemic has made its adjustments. We are learning to live under new conditions. We do our best to hold more outdoor events. People were not so active at first, but the situation has improved. More people register and take part in various competitions. The Brave Run is a great example. As many as 2,500 people registered to take part in it within a week. The cycling movement has been actively developing as well. According to the reports of the oblast executive committees and the Minsk City Hall, more than 100km of new bicycle paths, 75 bicycle garages and 600 parking lots were developed in 2020. We are happy with the figures,” Vyacheslav Durnov said.
