Belarus (BLR)

The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus (formerly Belorussia, or Byelorussia [White Russia]) was formed in 1991 after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Many Belarus athletes competed from 1952 to 1988 for the Soviet Union, and Belarus athletes were present at both Albertville and Barcelona in 1992 as members of the Unified Team. During this time the most successful Belarusians have been the gymnasts Nelli Kim (five gold and one silver in 1976 and 1980) and Olga Korbut (four gold and two silver in 1972 and 1976) as well as the fencer Yelena Novikova-Belova, who won four gold, one silver, and one bronze between 1968 and 1980. Representing the Unified Team in 1992 Belarusian Vitaly Shcherba won six gold medals in gymnastics. Four years later he won four bronze medals for Belarus to a personal total of ten medals.

The National Olympic Committee of Belarus was formed on 22 March 1991, and provisionally and conditionally recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 9 March 1992. Full recognition followed at the IOC session in Monte Carlo, on 24 September 1993. Belarus competed as an independent nation for the first time at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, with 33 athletes who won two silver medals. They first competed independently at the Summer Olympic Games in 1996.

The most successful Olympian from Belarus has been female biathlete Darya Domracheva, who after a bronze medal in 2010, won four gold medals between 2014 and 2018. Domracheva is followed by female rower Katsiaryna Khodatovich-Karsten, with four medals (two golds, one silver, and one bronze), and male canoeists Roman Petrushenko and Vadim Makhnyov, who both won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

At the Olympic Winter Games, Belarus’ best sport has been biathlon with 11 medals and four golds, followed by freestyle skiing, with eight medals and four golds. Their best Winter performance came at Sochi 2014, led by Domrachava, with six medals and five gold medals.

Belarus has never hosted an Olympic Games but, in 1980, several preliminary football (soccer) matches were held in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.