Contents

Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics
IOC code	BLR
NOC	Belarus Olympic Committee
Website	www.noc.by (in Russian and English)
inTokyo, Japan July 23, 2021 (2021-07-23) – August 8, 2021 (2021-08-08)
Competitors	101 in 17 sports
Flag bearers (opening)	Hanna Marusava Mikita Tsmyh
Flag bearer (closing)	Ilya Palazkov
Medals Ranked 45th	Gold 1 Silver 3 Bronze 3 Total 7
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
Russian Empire (1900–1912)  Poland (1924–1936)  Soviet Union (1952–1988)  Unified Team (1992)  Individual Neutral Athletes (2024)

Belarus competed at the 2020 Summer OlympicsinTokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1] It was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.

For several years, the Belarus Olympic Committee (NOC RB) has been accused of political discrimination in its selection and treatment of athletes. Accusations and athlete tensions came to a head in 2020 after the disputed re-election of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, also the NOC RB chairman at the time, and the widespread protests that followed. The NOC RB was allegedly associated with the torture of athletes who have spoken out against Lukashenko, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been investigating.^[2]

Before the Games, the IOC restricted the NOC RB for athletes' rights violations twice (the first in December 2020 and the second in March 2021). The 2020 measures included the banning of all NOC RB officials from Olympic events; the suspension of financial support from the NOC RB; the active involvement of political neutrality for Belarusian athletes; the Belarusian ban from hosting any Olympic events; and the request of all other Olympic members to accept the measures in the interest of the safety of Belarusian athletes.^[3] The 2021 measures reiterated the previous set, as well as stating that the IOC did not acknowledge NOC RB officials holding the government positions and requesting that Olympic selection in Belarus proved non-political.^[4]

After the second sanctions in March 2021, and the IOC did not recognize the NOC RB leadership election results in the same month, other national committees and sports organizations heeded a plea for Belarus to get banned from the rescheduled Tokyo 2020, forcing the athletes to compete independently under the Olympic flag.^[2]

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Ivan Litvinovich	Gymnastics	Men's trampoline	31 July
Silver	Iryna Kurachkina	Wrestling	Women's freestyle 57 kg	5 August
Silver	Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov	Wrestling	Men's freestyle 74 kg	6 August
Silver	Volha Khudzenka Maryna Litvinchuk Marharyta Makhneva Nadzeya Papok	Canoeing	Women's K-4 500 metres	7 August
Bronze	Maksim Nedasekau	Athletics	Men's high jump	1 August
Bronze	Vanesa Kaladzinskaya	Wrestling	Women's freestyle 53 kg	6 August
Bronze	Alina Harnasko	Gymnastics	Women's rhythmic individual all-around	7 August

The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:

Three Belarusian archers qualified for the women's events by reaching the quarterfinal stage of the women's team recurve at the 2019 World Archery Championshipsin's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.^[5]

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Score	Seed	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Karyna Dziominskaya	Women's individual	642	29	Siddique (BAN) W 6–5	Valencia (MEX) L 3–7	Did not advance
Karyna Kazlouskaya		607	61	Valencia (MEX) L 0–6	Did not advance
Hanna Marusava		633	39	Unruh (GER) W 6–4	Yamauchi (JPN) W 6–0	Boari (ITA) L 5–6	Did not advance
Karyna Dziominskaya Karyna Kazlouskaya Hanna Marusava	Women's team	1882	12	—		China (CHN) W 5–3	Japan (JPN) W 5–3	South Korea (KOR) L 1–5	Germany (GER) L 1–5	4

Belarus fielded a squad of two artistic swimmers to compete in the women's duet event, by winning the bronze medal at the 2021 FINA Olympic Qualification Tournament in Barcelona, Spain.

Belarusian athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying time or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):^[6][7]

Belarusian athletes were scheduled to participate in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay. On July 28, two athletes, Hanna Mikhailava (Belarusian: Ганна Міхайлава; Russian: Анна Михайлова) and Krystsina Muliarchyk (Belarusian: Крысціна Мулярчык; Russian: Кристина Мулярчик), were declared ineligible due to insufficient number of doping tests made.^[8][9] This situation forced Belarusian sport authorities to replace them. Sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya (100 m and 200 m) was chosen to be one of the substitutes; however, she claimed that this decision was made without her consent and criticized the national sport authorities.^[10][11]

On 1 August 2021, Tsimanouskaya was expelled from further competitions by the national sports authorities, reportedly as a consequence of her criticism. On the same day, the Belarusian sports officials tried to put her on a plane against her will. She sought the protection of police in Tokyo airport and declared that she was not planning to return to Belarus.^[12][13] According to the national athletics team officials, she was expelled for her "emotional and psychological state" after medical examination, but Tsimanouskaya denied that statement.^[14] She asked the International Olympic Committee for help.^[15]

The four athletes who eventually contested the event – Aliaksandra Khilmanovich, Yuliya Bliznets, Elvira Herman and Asteria Uzo Limai – came last of all nations in the heats and did not advance.^[16]

Key

• Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
• Q = Qualified for the next round
• q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target
• NR = National record
• N/A = Round not applicable for the event
• Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Track & road events

Men

Women

Field events

Men

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Dzmitry Nabokau	High jump	2.25	=14	Did not advance
Maksim Nedasekau		2.28	12q	2.37 NR
Yauheni Bahutski	Discus throw	58.65	27	Did not advance
Aliaksei Katkavets	Javelin throw	82.72	9q	83.71	6
Pavel Mialeshka		82.64	11q	82.28	10
Hleb Dudarau	Hammer throw	71.60	27	Did not advance
Ivan Tsikhan		74.57	18	Did not advance
Yury Vasilchanka		74.00	19	Did not advance

Women

Combined events – Men's decathlon

Belarus entered four male boxers into the Olympic tournament. Dzmitry Asanau scored a round-of-16 victory to secure a spot in the men's lightweight division at the 2020 European Qualification TournamentinVillebon-sur-Yvette, France.

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Dzmitry Asanau	Men's lightweight	Al-Kasbeh (JOR) W 5-0	Oliveira (BRA) L 2–3	Did not advance
Aliaksandr Radzionau	Men's welterweight	Ekinci (TUR) W 3–2	McCormack (GBR) L 0–5	Did not advance
Vitali Bandarenka	Men's middleweight	Isley (USA) L 0–5	Did not advance
Uladzislau Smiahlikau	Men's heavyweight	Bye	Plodzicki-Faoagali (SAM) W 4–1	Nyika (NZL) L 0–5	Did not advance

Belarusian canoeists qualified a total of eight boats in each of the following distances for the Games through the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World ChampionshipsinSzeged, Hungary.^[17]

Men

Women

Athlete	Event	Heats		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Alena Nazdrova	C-1 200 m	46.731	3QF	46.950	1SF	48.120	5FB	48.085	11
Nadzeya Makarchanka Daryna Pikuleva	C-2 500 m	2:09.799	6QF	2:04.951	3SF	2:07.205	5FB	2:04.351	10
Volha Khudzenka	K-1 500 m	1:50.732	3SF	Bye		1:52.755	3FB	1:55.933	14
Maryna Litvinchuk		1:49.606	2SF	Bye		1:56.386	5FC	1:57.057	22
Volha Khudzenka Maryna Litvinchuk	K-2 500 m	1:43.377	2SF	Bye		1:37.198	3FA	1:37.647	6
Volha Khudzenka Maryna Litvinchuk Marharyta Makhneva Nadzeya Papok	K-4 500 m	1:34.785	3QF	1:35.534	1SF	1:36.672	2FA	1:36.073

Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal); SF = Qualify to semifinal round; QF = Qualify to quarterfinal round

Belarus entered one rider each to compete in the men's and women's Olympic road races, by virtue of his top 50 national finish (for men) and her top 22 (for women) in the UCI World Ranking.^[18]

Following the completion of the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Belarus entered two riders to compete each in the men's and women's omnium, respectively, based on their final individual UCI Olympic rankings.

Omnium

Belarus entered two eventing riders into the Olympic equestrian competition by securing the second and third of six available slots, respectively, outside the group and continental selection, in the individual FEI Olympic rankings. MeanwhIle, one dressage rider was added to the Belarusian roster by finishing in the top two, outside the group selection, of the individual FEI Olympic rankings for Group C (Central and Eastern Europe).^[19] Belarus later withdrew from competing in dressage.

Belarusian individuals for eventing were named on June 30, 2021.^[20] Aliaksandr Faminou and Martinie withdrew before the competition began.^[21]

Belarus initially entered two artistic gymnasts into the Olympic competition. Anastasiya Alistratava booked a spot in the women's individual all-around and apparatus events, by finishing fifteenth out of the twenty gymnasts eligible for qualification at the 2019 World ChampionshipsinStuttgart, Germany.^[22] On the men's side, Rio 2016 Olympian Andrey Likhovitskiy received a spare berth from the apparatus events, as one of the seven highest-ranked gymnasts, neither part of the team nor qualified directly through the all-around, at the same tournament. Alistratava withdrew in July 2021, and her spot was given to teammate Hanna Traukova.^[23] Likhovitskiy also withdrew; however, his spot was given to Czech gymnast David Jessen.^[24][25]

Women

Belarus qualified a squad of rhythmic gymnasts for the individual and group all-around by finishing in the top 16 (for individual) and top 5 (for group), respectively, at the 2019 World ChampionshipsinBaku.^[26] The athletes for both the individual and group all-around were announced on 23 June 2021.^[27]

Athlete	Event	Qualification						Final
		Hoop	Ball	Clubs	Ribbon	Total	Rank	Hoop	Ball	Clubs	Ribbon	Total	Rank
Alina Harnasko	Individual	26.400	27.200	23.900	21.750	99.250	4Q	26.500	27.500	27.400	21.100	102.700
Anastasiia Salos		25.700	26.300	24.550	22.600	99.150	5Q	25.425	23.000	24.950	21.800	95.175	8

Belarus qualified one gymnast for the men's trampoline by finishing in the top eight at the 2019 World ChampionshipsinTokyo, Japan.^[28] An additional spot was earned through the 2019-2020 Trampoline World Cup series.

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Score	Rank	Score	Rank
Uladzislau Hancharou	Men's	113.400	2Q	60.565	4
Ivan Litvinovich		113.555	1Q	61.715

Belarus entered two judoka (one men and one women) into the Olympic tournament based on the International Judo Federation Olympics Individual Ranking.^[29]

Athlete	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Dzmitry Minkou	Men's −66 kg	El-Idrissi (QAT) W 10–00	Yondonperenlei (MGL) L 00–10	Did not advance
Maryna Slutskaya	Women's +78 kg	Wood (TTO) W 10–00	Han M-j (KOR) L 00–10	Did not advance
Mikita Sviryd	Men's -100 kg	Frey (GER) L 00–10	Did not advance

Belarusian athletes qualified for the following spots to compete in modern pentathlon. Iryna Prasiantsova secured her selection in the women's race by winning the bronze medal and finishing second among those eligible for Olympic qualification at the 2019 European ChampionshipsinBath, England.^[30] She was joined by her fellow rookie Volha Silkina, who booked her place with a gold-medal victory at the 2019 UIPM World ChampionshipsinBudapest, Hungary.^[31] Iryna Prasiantsova doesn't participate because only 2 quotas for NOC are available.

Belarus qualified three boats for each of the following rowing classes into the Olympic regatta. Rowing crews in the men's pair and women's lightweight double sculls confirmed Olympic places for their boats at the 2019 FISA World ChampionshipsinOttensheim, Austria.^[32][33] Another Belarusian rower scored a runner-up finish to book one of the remaining boats available in the women's single sculls at the 2021 FISA Final Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland.^[34]

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

Belarusian sailors qualified one boat in each of the following classes through the class-associated World Championships, and the continental regattas.^[35][36]

M = Medal race; EL = Eliminated – did not advance into the medal race

Belarusian shooters achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2018 ISSF World Championships, the 2019 ISSF World Cup series, European Championships or Games, and European Qualifying Tournament, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) by 6 June 2021.^[37]

Set to compete at her sixth consecutive Games, Viktoria Chaika earned a direct place in the women's 10 m air pistol as the highest-ranked shooter vying for qualification in the ISSF World Olympic Rankings of 6 June 2021.

Belarusian swimmers further achieved qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the Olympic Qualifying Time (OQT), and potentially 1 at the Olympic Selection Time (OST)):^[38][39]

Men

Women

Mixed

Athlete	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Opposition Score	Rank
Egor Gerasimov	Men's singles	Simon (FRA) W 4–6, 6–3, 6–4	Fognini (ITA) L 4–6, 6–7(4–7)	Did not advance
Ilya Ivashka		Monfils (FRA) W 6–4, 4–6, 7–5	Kukushkin (KAZ) W 6–7(4–7), 6–3, 6–3	Nishikori (JPN) L 6–7(7–9), 0–6	Did not advance
Egor Gerasimov Ilya Ivashka	Men's doubles	—	Daniell / Venus (NZL) L 3–6, 6–7(6–8)	Did not advance
Aryna Sabalenka	Women's singles	Linette (POL) W 6–2, 6–1	Vekić (CRO) L 4–6, 6–3, 6–7(3–7)	Did not advance

Belarusian weightlifters qualified for two quota places at the games, based on the Tokyo 2020 Rankings Qualification List of 11 June 2021.^[40]

Belarus qualified eight wrestlers for each of the following classes into the Olympic competition. Two of them finished among the top six to book Olympic spots in the men's Greco-Roman 87 kg and women's freestyle 57 kg at the 2019 World Championships, while five additional licenses were awarded to the Belarusian wrestlers, who progressed to the top two finals of their respective weight categories at the 2021 European Olympic Qualification TournamentinBudapest, Hungary.^[41][42] Another Belarusian wrestler claimed one of the remaining slots in the men's freestyle 74 kg to complete the nation's roster at the 2021 World Qualification TournamentinSofia, Bulgaria.^[43]

Key:

• VT (ranking points: 5–0 or 0–5) – Victory by fall.
• VB (ranking points: 5–0 or 0–5) – Victory by injury (VF for forfeit, VA for withdrawal or disqualification)
• PP (ranking points: 3–1 or 1–3) – Decision by points – the loser with technical points.
• PO (ranking points: 3–0 or 0–3) – Decision by points – the loser without technical points.
• ST (ranking points: 4–0 or 0–4) – Great superiority – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.
• SP (ranking points: 4–1 or 1–4) – Technical superiority – the loser with technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.

Freestyle

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Magomedkhabib Kadimagomedov	Men's−74 kg	Garzón (CUB) W 3–1 PP	Dake (USA) W 4–0 ST	Chamizo (ITA) W 3–1 PP	Bye	Sidakov (ROC) L 0–3 PO
Ali Shabanau	Men's−86 kg	Taylor (USA) L 0–4 ST	Did not advance		Amine (SMR) L 0–3 PO	Did not advance	16
Aliaksandr Hushtyn	Men's –97 kg	Salas (CUB) L 3-4 PP	Did not advance				12
Dzianis Khramiankou	Men's –125 kg	Mönkhtör (MGL) L 1–3 PO	Did not advance				9
Vanesa Kaladzinskaya	Women's −53 kg	Ana (ROU) W 4–0 ST	Phogat (IND) W 5–0 VT	Pang Qy (CHN) L 2–2 PP	Bye	Winchester (USA) W 5–0 VT
Iryna Kurachkina	Women's −57 kg	Malik (IND) W 3–1 PP	Koblova (ROC) W 3–1 PP	Nikolova (BUL) W 4–0 ST	Bye	Kawai (JPN) L 0–3 PO
Vasilisa Marzaliuk	Women's −76 kg	Rotter-Focken (GER) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance		Zhou Q (CHN) L 1–3 PP	Did not advance	9

Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinal	Semifinal	Repechage	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Kiryl Maskevich	Men's −87 kg	Metwally (EGY) L 1–4 SP	Did not advance				15

On 28 July 2021, The Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Belarus was one of several countries which had failed to meet the minimum drug testing requirements as per "Rule 15", which requires at least three no-notice outside of competition blood and urine drug tests no less than three weeks apart for three of their athletics competitors.^[44] As such, three unnamed athletes were disqualified from participating in their events.^[45] It was later revealed that two of these athletes were runners Hanna Mikhailava and Krystsina Muliarchyk.^[8]

Tsimanouskaya qualified to participate at the Summer Olympics in the 100 m and 200 m events only. After several Belarusian athletes were disqualified due to not meeting the minimum drug testing requirements, national sport authorities entered her into the 4 × 400 m relay in addition to her planned events. Tsimanouskaya claimed that this decision was made without her consent and criticized the national sport authorities publicly on her Instagram account.^[46][47] On 1 August 2021, she was allegedly taken to Haneda Airport forcibly by the Belarus Olympic Committee. She refused to board a flight back to Belarus,^[48] and asked both the International Olympic Committee and Japan for assistance.^[49]

• Belarus at the 2020 Summer Paralympics