The best athletes of the year will be honored today in the Vitebsk region

December 18, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The best athletes of the Vitebsk region and their coaches will be honored today in the city on the Dvina River, as reported to BELTA by Petr Nemenonok, Deputy Head of the Department of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee. This year, 6 athletes from the Vitebsk region became winners and prize-winners in various international competitions. Sergey Lagun won a silver medal at the World Weightlifting Championships. Viktor Zuev became a bronze medalist at the World Boxing Championships, and Alexander Makarenko won at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships. Female athletes also distinguished themselves. Olga Knazhishche became the winner of the European Youth Championships in weightlifting, Marina Shkermanova was the best at the European Junior Championships, and Anna Batyushko won a silver medal at the World Championships in this sport. Today, at the festive event, there will be many warm words and congratulations addressed to the athletes and their coaches from representatives of local authorities, the National Olympic Committee, their friends and relatives. They will be awarded special prizes for their sporting achievements. Petr Nemenonok also noted that another similar ceremony will be held in Vitebsk in the near future. This time, the main heroes will be athletes involved in academic rowing, biathlon, rhythmic gymnastics, and track and field athletics. The Vitebsk region has 61 youth sports schools for training sports reserves, 2 Olympic reserve schools (in Vitebsk and Novopolotsk), a regional school of higher sportsmanship, and an Olympic reserve center for equestrian sports and horse breeding in the city of Baran. 22.8 thousand people are undergoing sports training in these institutions. 1133 coaches work with the athletes. In 2009, they trained 15 masters of sports of international class, 116 masters of sports, and 288 candidates for master of sports. 611 athletes from the Vitebsk region are represented in the national teams of Belarus. A total of 55 sports are cultivated in the region, including 32 Olympic sports (25 summer sports and 7 winter sports). -0-