Alexander Lukashenko awarded the special prize "Belarusian Sports Olymp"
The Head of State Alexander Lukashenko signed decree No. 485 on December 31 awarding the special prize of the President of the Republic of Belarus "Belarusian Sports Olympus" for the year 2024. This was reported by BELTA in the press service of the Belarusian leader.
For significant contributions to the development of physical culture and sports, active activities to promote physical culture and sports, and the development of physical and sports traditions that contribute to the formation of a harmonious personality, the special prize was awarded to Gennady Vishnyakov, Irina Kurochkina and the team of the Vitebsk Specialized Children and Youth Olympic Reserve School No. 1.
The honored coach of Belarus, senior coach of the national team in parasports at the RCOP for Paralympic and Deaflympic sports Gennady Vishnyakov prepared the 21-time Paralympic champion Igor Bokoy, other winners and prize-winners of the Paralympic Games, world and European championships in swimming for the visually impaired (among them — Vladimir Izotov, Dmitry Solei, Grigory and Anastasia Zudilova).
The honored master of sports of Belarus in freestyle wrestling Irina Kurochkina is a silver medalist of the 2021 Olympic Games, bronze medalist of the world championships in 2017, 2019, 2024, three-time European champion, champion of the 2019 European Games. She earned a license to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games but was not admitted to them. Currently, the athlete ranks 3rd in the world ranking in the category up to 55 kg.
The Vitebsk SDYUSHOR No. 1 is among the main bases for training the sports reserve of the national and team squads of the country in trampoline jumping and other gymnastics sports (in 2024, it includes 40 athletes — students of the school). In trampoline jumping, the students of the school have won three Olympic gold medals: Vladislav Goncharov (in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro) and Ivan Litvinovich (in 2021 in Tokyo and in 2024 in Paris).