Sport
From the 1952 Helsinki Games until the end of the Soviet era, Belarus competed in the Olympic Games as part of the Soviet Olympic squad. During the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Belarus competed as part of the Unified Team. The nation's athletes competed in an Olympic Games as Belarusians for the first time during the 1994 Lillehammer Games. Belarus has won a total of 52 Olympic medals; 6 gold, 17 silver and 29 bronze. The first Olympic medal for the Soviet Union was won by Belarusian Mikhail Krivonosov at the 1956 Summer Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Australia. Belarus's National Olympic Committee has been headed by President Lukashenko since 1997; he is the only head of state in the world to hold this position.
Receiving heavy sponsorship from the President himself, ice hockey is the nation's most popular sport. Team Belarus finished a surprising fourth in overall competition at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Belarusian players have become common place in the NHL and international competitions.
In January 2012, Victoria Azarenka from Belarus became a grand slam champion, winning the Australian Open Championship defeating Maria Sharapova in the final to become the women's #1 ranked player in the world. Reference: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis/queen-victoria-takes-the-throne-determined-to-court-further-success-20120129-1qo2l.html
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Belarus
Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain,
Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,
And parting summer’s lingering blooms delayed,
Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
Seats of my youth, when every sport could please,
How often have I loitered o’er the green,
Where humble happiness endeared each scene.”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730?–1774)
“How long, then, Catiline, while you abuse our patience? How long is this madness of yours to make sport of us?”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“For generations, a wide range of shooting in Northern Ireland has provided all sections of the population with a pastime which ... has occupied a great deal of leisure time. Unlike many other countries, the outstanding characteristic of the sport has been that it was not confined to any one class.”
—Northern Irish Tourist Board. quoted in New Statesman (London, Aug. 29, 1969)