Belarus at the 2018 Winter Paralympics

Last updated
Belarus at the
2018 Winter Paralympics
Flag of Belarus.svg
IPC code BLR
NPC Paralympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus
in Pyeongchang
Competitors14 in 2 sports
Medals
Ranked 8th
Gold
4
Silver
4
Bronze
4
Total
12
Winter Paralympics appearances (overview)
Other related appearances
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union (1988)
Paralympic flag (1988-1994).svg  Unified Team (1992)

Belarus sent competitors the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. People are competing in para-Nordic skiing. The team includes one woman and one man. Both had gone to the Winter Paralympics before. The country has a history of doing well at the Winter Paralympics, having first gone in 1994. Going to South Korea, they had already won 23 Winter Paralympic medals.

Contents

Team

The table below contains the list of members of people (called "Team Belarus") that will be participating in the 2018 Games.

Team Belarus
NameSportGenderClassificationEventsref
Vasili Shaptsiaboipara-Nordic skiingmaleB2biathlon [1] [2] [3]
Liudmila Vauchock (Belarusian : Людмілай Ваўчок)para-Nordic skiingfemalecross country skiing [4]

History

Belarus has competed in every Winter Paralympics since 1994. Going to Pyeongchang, they had already won 23 medals at the Winter Games. Most of these medals were in cross country skiing, with only 3 medals won in another sport: biathlon. Almost half the Belarus's medals in cross country skiing were won by sit skier Liudmila Vauchock. [5] Belarus won 3 bronze medals at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. They ranked eighteenth for total medals. Their medals were won by Basil Shapteboy (Belarusian : Васіль Шапцябой) and Jadwiga Skorobogataya (Belarusian : Ядвіга Скорабагатая). [6] [7]

Russian doping scandal

15 National Paralympic Committees and the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation signed a letter expressing support for the National Paralympic Committee of Russia in August 2017. The countries included Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos, Moldova, Mongolia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Montenegro, and South Korea. They asked the IPC Governing Board to consider letting Russia compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. The letter was signed weeks before the IPC Governing Board met in Abu Dhabi. [8] In September 2017, this decision was reviewed and upheld. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) still had concerns about doping in Russian sport. All the conditions the IPC required of the Russians were not met. [9]

Para-Nordic skiing

Skiers

Vasili Shaptsiaboi

Vasili Shaptsiaboi was 38-years-old at the 2018 Games. He went to the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Games, winning 3 Paralympic bronze medals at these Games. [1] Before the Games, he was the man from Belarus who won the most medals at the Winter Paralympics. [10]

Liudmila Vauchock

Liudmila Vauchock has gone to the Paralympics before. [4] Almost half the Belarus's medals in cross country skiing were won by Vauchock. [5] When at home, her base for training was Raubichi. [4] She would do three days of intense training, take a day off, and then three more days of intense training. [4]

Vauchock has a disability because she fell off a dormitory roof. The fall broke her back. Before the accident, she was involved in athletics. Vauchock did like skiing while she was at school. She thought she got more mileage out of running than skiing. Vauchock started skiing after the accident because others encouraged her to try the sport. She says skiing gives her a sense of freedom and speed. It makes her feel independent and allows her to connect with nature. The snow is not a hindrance, but a route to freedom. [4] Volchek does not like attention that competing gives her. She went to Sochi with only her older brother accompanying her. While many people in Belarus were happy with her fifth-place finish in Sochi, she cried as the result was not what she wanted. While there are many challenges and many places in Minsk are not barrier free, she is not sad about the accident that resulted in her needing to use a wheelchair. Without the accident happening, she does not think she would have become an elite sportsperson. [4]

Schedule and results

On 12 March, the 15 km race takes place, with standing and vision impaired women starting at 10:00 PM. The sprint classic qualification takes place on 14 March from 10:00 AM - 11:25 AM for both men and women in all classes. It is followed in the afternoon by the semifinals and finals. The classic race takes place on 17 March. The standing and visually impaired women's race takes place from 10:00 AM - 12:30. [11]

Related Research Articles

Liudmila Vauchok is Belarusian Paralympian. She competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning a silver medal, and at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning a bronze medal. She qualified for the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Winter Paralympics</span> Multi-parasport event in Pyeongchang, South Korea

The 2018 Winter Paralympics, the 12th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), that was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 18 March 2018. They were the second Paralympics to be held in South Korea, following the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Perrine</span> Australian para-alpine skier

Melissa Perrine is a B2 classified visually impaired para-alpine skier from Australia. She has competed at the four Winter Paralympics from 2010 to 2022. At the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, she won three gold, one silver and one bronze medals. At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, she won two bronze medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joany Badenhorst</span> Australian Paralympian

Joany Badenhorst is a South African-born Australian Paralympian who was selected to compete in Para-snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. She would have been the first female snowboarder to represent Australia at the Winter Paralympics, but was forced to withdraw from her event after injuring her left knee on the morning of the event. In February 2018, she was selected in the Australian team to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Geiger</span> Australian alpine skier

Christian Geiger is an Australian Alpine skier, Paralympic alpine ski coach and sighted guide for visually impaired skiers. He was Jessica Gallagher's guide skier at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, winning a bronze medal. He represented Australia at the 2008 World Junior Alpine Skiing Championships and the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, but his career was cut short when he was severely injured in a traffic collision in 2009. He became Jessica Gallagher's sighted guide in 2013, and guided her to silver medals in women's slalom and giant slalom at the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup in Thredbo. Geiger was Melissa Perrine's guide and coach at the 2018 Winter Paralympics where she won two bronze medals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Eskau</span> German sportwoman

Andrea Eskau is a German handbiker, Paralympic biathlon, and cross country skier who was born in Apolda and was a winner of three gold medals in Summer Paralympic games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Bochet</span> French para-alpine skier

Marie Bochet is a French alpine skier and Paralympic Champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Klebl</span> American-Canadian cross-country skier (born 1972)

Christopher Klebl is an American-Canadian cross-country skier who represented the United States at the 2006 and 2010 Winter Paralympics before winning a gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Winter Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vasily Shaptsiaboi</span>

Vasily Shaptsiaboi is a Belarusian Paralympic biathlete, cross-country skier, and road bicycle racer who won many medals at both Winter and Summer Paralympic Games.

Natalia Kocherova is Russian Paralympic wheelchair and cross-country skier from Omsk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Independent Paralympians at the Paralympic Games</span> Sporting event delegation

Athletes have competed as Independent Paralympians at the Paralympic Games for various reasons, including political transition, international sanctions, suspensions of National Paralympic Committees and compassion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanislav Chokhlaev</span> Russian cross-country skier and biathlete

Stanislav Chokhlaev is a Russian male visually impaired cross-country skier and biathlete. He represented Russia at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and was successful in his maiden Paralympic competition, claiming three medals including 2 silver medals in the cross-country skiing event. In 2017, he was awarded the Return to Life Prize by the Russian Paralympic Committee.

Kendall Gretsch is an American triathlete, biathlete and cross-country skier. She was born with spina bifida. She has competed in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics and has a unique distinction of winning gold medals in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tajikistan at the 2018 Winter Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Tajikistan sent competitors the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Two people will be competing in para-Nordic skiing in Tajikistan's first appearance at the Winter Paralympics. They trained in Germany and China before the start of the Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serbia at the 2018 Winter Paralympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Serbia sent competitors to the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. One person on the team is para-Nordic skier Milos Zaric. In addition to para-Nordic skier, Zaric is also a para-athlete. He is the world champion in the men's F55 javelin.

Lidziya Hrafeyeva is a Belarusian cross-country skier and biathlete. She has competed at the Winter Paralympics in 2014 and 2018.

Dzmitry Loban is a Belarusian male cross-country skier and biathlete. He has competed at the Winter Paralympics in 2010, 2014 and 2018 claiming 2 medals in his Paralympic career.

Natalie Wilkie is a Canadian Paralympic cross-country skier. As the youngest member of Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games, Wilkie won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the PyeongChang, South Korea games.

Staci Mannella is an American Paralympic alpine skier. She won various medals during the IPC Alpine World Ski Championships and World Cups.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nordic Skiing - Rules & Regulations - Classification - Masterlist". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  2. "Nordic Skiing - Rules & Regulations - Classification - Masterlist". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
  3. "Nordic World Rankings". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Стромкія віражы жыцця" (in Belarusian). 16 February 2018. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  5. 1 2 Paralympic Games (17 January 2018), Belarus at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics , retrieved 17 February 2018
  6. "Спорт у Беларусі | Belarus.by | Пра Беларусь | Belarus.by | Афіцыйны сайт Рэспублікі Беларусь". www.belarus.by (in Belarusian). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  7. "Спорт | Афіцыйны інтэрнэт-партал Прэзідэнта Рэспублікі Беларусь". President of Belarus (in Belarusian). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  8. "Paralympic committees boost Russia's bid to be reinstated in time for PyeongChang 2018". Play the Game. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  9. "Зборную Расіі адхілілі ад удзелу ў Паралімпійскіх гульнях — 2018". Наша Ніва (in Belarusian). Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  10. Committee, Alexander Picolin, International Paralympic. "IPC Historical Results Archive - MultiMedallists Web". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 13 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. patrick. "Programm". www.oepc.at (in German). Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2018.