Belarus is represented by only seven athletes.
Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Image
The opening ceremony of the XXV Winter Olympic Games will take place this evening in Italy at 22:00 Minsk time. Some competitions started earlier, but officially everything begins today.
For the first time in history, the centers of the Winter Games are two cities at once – Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Olympic events will also be hosted by Rho, Assago, Livigno, Bormio, Predazzo, Tesero, and Antholz.
The opening ceremony will be held at Milan's "San Siro" stadium and will begin at 22:00 Minsk time. The closing ceremony of the Games will take place in the ancient amphitheater of Verona on February 22.
2900 athletes from 94 countries will participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics. Over 16 days, athletes will compete for 116 sets of awards in 16 sports.
Our delegation includes seven female athletes. After the start of the war in Ukraine, Belarusian and Russian sports were banned, for example, medal-contending biathlon, as well as ice hockey.
In December, freestyle skiing was allowed for competition. Belarusian freestyle skiers have won medals at all Olympics since 1998, and brought home gold in 2010, 2014, and 2018.
Anastasiya Andryianava, Hanna Huskova, Hanna Dziaruga (Freestyle Skiing)
February 17, Tuesday
Qualification 1 (13:00). Qualification 2 (13:45).
February 18, Wednesday
Final (13:30).
To reach the final, one must be in the top 12 best.
Maryna Zuyeva (Speed Skating)
February 7, Saturday
3,000 m (18:30).
February 12, Thursday
5,000 m (18:30).
February 21, Saturday
Mass Start. Semifinal (17:50). Final (19:15).
Maryia Shkanava (Alpine Skiing)
February 18, Wednesday
Slalom. 1st run (12:00). 2nd run (final) (15:30).
Hanna Karaliova (Cross-country Skiing)
February 7, Saturday
Skiathlon (10 km + 10 km) (15:00).
February 10, Tuesday
Sprint, Classic Style. Qualification (11:15). Final (13:45).
February 12, Thursday
10 km, Freestyle (15:00).
February 22, Sunday
50 km, Mass Start. Classic Style (12:00).
Viktoryia Safonava (Figure Skating)
February 17, Tuesday
Short Program (20:45).
February 18, Wednesday
Free Program (21:00).
The Winter Games in Italy will be the tenth for Belarus since gaining independence. In the nine previous Olympics, our athletes have won 20 awards (8 gold, 7 silver, 5 bronze).
Today's participant, Hanna Huskova, won gold in PyeongChang 2018 and silver in Beijing 2022. Experts assess Hanna's chances as small; she managed to participate in three World Cup stages this year (Belarusians were only unbanned in December), but was only ninth everywhere.
In other sports (cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, figure skating, speed skating), getting into the top ten would be a success.
At the previous Olympics in 2022 in China, Belarusian athletes won two silver medals: Huskova took second place in aerials, and biathlete Anton Smolski showed the second best result in the individual race. 29 Belarusians participated there.
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