On October 10, Borovukha /Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. A biathlon development centre is being established at the Novopolotsk State Olympic Reserve School in the settlement of Borovukha. This was announced today at the grand opening ceremony of the first stage of the roller ski track at the school by Vadim Zaitsev, Chairman of the KGB of Belarus and Chairman of the Belarusian Biathlon Federation OJSC, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "The Federation is fulfilling the President's directive on establishing key biathlon development centres in Belarus," he said. The construction of the roller ski track is part of the efforts to strengthen the material and technical base of the school, where biathlon is the leading section. The track is one of the most challenging in Belarus. Its length is 2.5 km, with a total elevation difference of 156 m. Only 350 m run on flat terrain. When designing the track, the specific features of similar facilities in Raubichi and Logoisk, as well as the wishes of biathletes, were taken into account. The head of the sports federation emphasised that much still needs to be done at the school to strengthen the material base and create comfortable conditions for athletes and coaches. However, it can already be said that with the commissioning of this training facility, the reconstruction of the Republican Centre for Olympic Training in Raubichi can be carried out without issues for skiers and biathletes, and high-quality training of athletes in the run-up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics can be conducted. -0-

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