Bronze medalist of the Republic

Young trainees of the judo section of the Lepel Children and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve, who have been mastering combat skills under the excellent coaches Galina, Georgy, and Alexey Popov for several years, have repeatedly brought glory to our district in regional, national, and international competitions. The young athletes brought further victories from the Vitebsk Region Championship among cadets (up to 18 years old) in judo wrestling, which took place in Polotsk.

In the weight category up to 60 kilograms, Yevgeny Mikhno took first place, while Dmitry Gruk in the weight category up to 55 kilograms and Alena Kamotskaya (category up to 48 kilograms) were awarded third place.

The victory at the Vitebsk Region Championship marked the beginning of Yevgeny Mikhno's path to new heights. As part of the Vitebsk Region team, Zhenya took part in the Open Championship of the Republic of Belarus, which was held at the "Stayki" Olympic Sports Complex in Minsk.

239 strongest young men from all cities of the Republic of Belarus, as well as athletes from the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and Moldova, demonstrated their combat skills at the championship.

In the first bout, Zhenya met Prudnikov from Moscow, and in the second, he met D. Bagutsky from Smorgon and won cleanly in 52 seconds.

Zhenya Mikhno's bout with M. Bonchura from Belynichi was very intense, but our athlete threw his opponent for a "yuko," which decided the outcome in his favour.

Then Zhenya entered the fight for a place in the final against an athlete from Mogilev and, making a mistake in the ground fighting, lost.

Zhenya's next challenge was the fight for third place.

This time, our athlete met his opponent from Minsk, David Karapetyan. In one minute and 30 seconds, Zhenya won the match cleanly and became the bronze medalist of the Championship of the Republic of Belarus.
Now, Zhenya Mikhno needs to participate in ranking tournaments of the International Judo Federation throughout the year to prepare for the World Championship among cadets under 18, which will be held in September in Miami (USA). To participate in the World Championship, Zhenya needs to compete in the European Cups, which will be held in March in Turkey and Ukraine, in April in Russia and the Czech Republic, and in May in Germany and Poland.

However, participation in six European Cups requires significant financial resources. One trip for an athlete costs 500 euros, and for all six – three thousand euros, not including the coach. Perhaps some residents of the district will wish to provide sponsorship to our athlete, who, we are confident, will undoubtedly bring glory to Lepel region among young athletes of Europe and the World.

Sviatlana SILVANOVICH.