Vitebsk Olympic Reserve School: How Champions Are Trained

Thanks to enthusiastic people in leadership and the involvement of the Honored Coach of Belarus and the USSR in athletics, Boris Khachaturyan, as a teacher, the institution began to progress in its sports profile, and its students started winning prizes in various competitions, even establishing themselves at the All-Union level. As a result, in 1989, the Vitebsk Olympic Reserve School was opened on its basis. Recently, Vladimir Mashnyuk, who had previously headed the regional center for physical education and sports of students for many years, took over as its director.

The primary task of the institution is the training of high-class athletes and specialists, the reserve for national teams. Training is conducted in 14 Olympic sports. The selection process is rigorous, so an ordinary guy from the street is unlikely to get here. Mostly, these are young athletes from our region who are carefully scouted throughout the season.

The school rightly prides itself on its alumni, including Olympic medalists: track and field athletes Igor Lapshin and Alexander Kovalenko, boxer Viktor Zuev, biathlete Alexey Aidarov, weightlifters Anna Batyushko, Igor Lavrenov, and Marina Shkermanova. The number of winners of world and European tournaments is simply countless. The corridor of the main building is literally adorned with photographs of athletes who have brought glory to their alma mater.

Nikolay Zarubitsky, Deputy Director for Main Activities, notes that the institution's students still play a significant role in European and world championships. For example, biathlete Darya Blashko, who not so long ago became a two-time junior world champion on the track in Raubichi, and later won the junior IBU Cup.

This year, three trainees participated in the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Norway: biathletes Natalia Karnitskaya and Kirill Tyurin, as well as skier Timur Laskin, a protégé of Honored Coach of Belarus Alexander Solonenko. Pavel Rudakov won a bronze medal at the Junior European Championship in Greco-Roman wrestling. And this is far from a complete list, as new talents emerge in various cultivated sports every year.

The school also provides its facilities for quite experienced athletes. For example, in the throwing sector, Sergey Kolomoets, currently the second hammer thrower in the country after Ivan Tikhon, trains under his coach Mikhail Popel. At the recent Rio de Janeiro Games, he took 9th place.

In the indoor arena, we met the patriarch of athletics – Honored Coach of the Republic Mikhail Shur. Over several decades, he has trained more than one generation of talented high jumpers. Today, Mikhail Moiseevich has retired, but he always offers wise advice to colleagues and young athletes. The same can be said for Honored Coach of Belarus Alexander Golovnev, who passes on his experience to sprinters. At the same time, there is a constant rejuvenation of staff.

After all, they see the key to success here in the fact that many former students return to the school as mentors. Anna Zaletskaya, for example, is a full-time coach but continues to compete in various competitions and is part of the extended national judo team. Not long ago, a former student of the UOR, multiple national champion and track and field athlete Sergey Kozlov, who now works with Alexander Golovnev, retired from professional sports.

To train high-level athletes, a corresponding base is required. It is constantly being updated. For instance, this year, a modern track surface was laid on the running track instead of asphalt, and it was also partially repaired in the indoor arena with the starting area and high jump sector. New hurdles with special counterweights were purchased. The repair of the weightlifting hall is next on the agenda.

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