In the Vitebsk region, there is a systematic development of weightlifting.

It has been less than four years since a specialized hall, long dreamed of by athletes, opened in the regional center.

It has been less than four years since a specialized hall, long dreamed of by athletes, opened in the regional center.

And recently, a weightlifting department opened in Orsha, where about 40 young athletes are already training. Vladimir Smolyak, the senior coach of the Vitebsk region in weightlifting, who has been training champions of international competitions for over 45 years, spoke about the recent successes of our athletes and plans for 2020.

-- In the past season, our trainee, Master of Sports of International Class, member of the Belarusian national team, Alexander Bersanov, took second place in the snatch at the World Championships. In the clean and jerk, however, he made a mistake and ultimately finished fourth. Our juniors also performed successfully at the European Championships, where Vitebsk coach Alexander Krasovsky traveled: Alexander Marchenko fulfilled the Master of Sports standard and took 6th place, Daniil Ilyin took 8th place, and Vladislav Tsvetinsky took 4th place with a total of 261 kilograms (119+146) in the two-event total. In the snatch, our athlete successfully lifted 111 kilograms on his first attempt. The second attempt was successful – 116. In the third attempt, Vladislav successfully snatched 119. Based on the snatch results, he won silver and set several European youth records. In the clean and jerk, the young man lifted 135 kilograms on his first attempt. On the second attempt, our athlete managed 142 kilograms. In the final attempt, the judges noticed a violation and the attempt was not counted.

Noting that these young athletes grew up in our new specialized weightlifting hall at the regional comprehensive center of the Olympic reserve, Vladimir Smolyak once again emphasized the importance of creating decent training conditions for athletes. The results speak for themselves!