The 10 Belarusian athletes for The Match Europe v USA on 9-10 September were officially announced at a press conference in Minsk on Tuesday (13) which was attended by European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen.
Travelling directly from the European Athletics Team Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland where the winners of each discipline qualified directly for The Match, Hansen provided more details of the composition of Team Europe as the inaugural event moves closer into focus.
“I assure you that Europe will be represented by a very, very strong team. It was originally planned there would be five Belarusian men and five Belarusian women but the women were stronger so the final composition is eight women and two men. And we have also reached an agreement with seven international ambassadors.
“Some of the athletes on the team are the winners from the European Athletics Team Championships Super League. The rest are made up based on the top four on the 2019 European list,” said President Hansen.
Two of the confirmed Belarusian athletes - high jumpers Karyna Taranda and Dzmitry Nabokau - also attended the press conference in which they spoke about their expectations ahead of the competition and what it means to be part of the European team.
“It will be the greatest battle of two teams and it will unite rivals from across Europe. In our team we are all are world class athletes and we will have the opportunity to unite and together defend the honour of the continent. We will do our best to please the fans and produce the best results,” said Taranda, who recently cleared 2.00m for the first time to equal the long-standing national record.
It was also announced that the two captains for the European team will be European Athletics council members Marton Gyulai on the men’s side and Cherry Alexander on the women’s side.
“Do not even doubt that in a couple of years everyone will be interested in who won the first ever battle between the European and US teams,” said Gyulai. “At the moment, we already have about fifty athletes, not only European - but world class athletes - who have confirmed their participation in The Match.”
The Match will take place in the recently refurbished Dinamo Stadium which seats 22,000 spectators and Eurovision Sport, who have secured the broadcast rights, will ensure wide free-to-air coverage of The Match across Europe.
10 Belarusian athletes confirmed for The Match
Daryia Barysevich (1500m) - 2019 European indoor finalistAliona Dubitskaya (shot put) - 2018 European bronze medallist
Elvira Herman (100m hurdles) - 2018 European champion
Tatsiana Khaladovich (javelin) - 2016 European javelin champion
Hanna Malyshik (hammer) - 2018 European finalist
Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova (long jump) - 2019 European indoor silver medallist
Dzmitry Nabokau (high jump) - 2017 European U23 champion
Maksim Nedasekau (high jump) - 2018 European silver medallist
Karyna Taranda (high jump) - 2018 World U20 champion
Iryna Zhuk (pole vault) - 2019 European indoor finalist
6 international ambassadors confirmed for The Match
Armand Duplantis (pole vault) - 2018 European championRamil Guliyev (200m) - 2017 world champion and 2018 European champion
Mariya Lasitskene (high jump) - 2015 and 2017 world champion and 2014 and 2018 European champion
Piotr Lisek (pole vault) - 2017 European indoor champion and 2017 world silver medallist
Thomas Rohler (javelin) - 2016 Olympic champion and 2018 European champion
Ekaterini Stefanidi (pole vault) - 2016 Olympic champion, 2017 world champion and 2016 and 2018 European champion