Competition Heats Up at Minsk 2019

(ATR) European Games medals are up for grabs in archery, sprint canoe, shooting, table tennis and wrestling as action continues in 10 sports on Day 6 at Minsk 2019.

Temperatures have been steamy in the Belarusian capital, expected to reach 28 degrees on Wednesday, but other than some traffic congestion around the city center, all appears to be going as planned for the competitions.

Fans cooled off in a fountain near the 3x3 basketball venue and Minsk’s historic Sport Palace, where wrestling awards its first medals in freestyle on Wednesday night. Volunteers have been seen sporting bags of ice on their heads.

Roads were blocked and traffic rerouted on Tuesday, but for good reason. Veteran Belarusian cyclist Vasil Kiryienka successfully defending his European Games road cycling time trial title was one of the highlights of Minsk 2019 thus far. Swiss Marlen Reusser sped to gold in the women’s time trial on the final day of road cycling.

Kiryienka had an early start in the field and hammered through the 28.6km course in 33:3.34 at an average speed of 51.9km/h.

Although the Belarusian had given his all in support of teammate Aleksandr Riabushenko, was fourth in Sunday's road race, the defending champion felt fresh heading into the time trial two days later.

"I wasn't tired and it's a pretty short race," he said. Age might have proved a bigger problem but Kiryienka, who turns 38 on Friday, but he managed to cope.

"When you get older, the shorter the race is, the more difficult it is for me personally," said the Belarusian cyclist. "Not only your endurance is taken into account but you also need to highlight your abilities at the maximum, first of all your rapidity and strength. If you develop endurance with age, your rapidity and strength can only diminish."

Another highly experienced veteran athlete is making her mark at the European Games – 55-year-old Ni Xia Lian of Luxembourg. The table tennis player has defied her advancing years to reach the women’s singles semifinals in Minsk.

"The younger players they have the speed, but I have the skill and the tactics," she said. "That's why I'm here. If I can move, then I'm alive, then I can do what I want and play high-level table tennis. My hand is like a remote control, I just need to be in a position so that I can use it."

Ni’s incredible run came to end on Wednesday bowing out to Portugal’s Yu Fu 4-2.

Belarusian gymnastics enthusiasts are eagerly looking forward to one of the European Games blue riband events – the artistic gymnastics all-around competitions – with qualifications starting at the modern Minsk Arena, a 15,000 capacity venue used for the world ice hockey championships in 2014, on Thursday.

The Minsk 2019 European Games will present Ukrainian gymnast Oleg Verniaiev, 25, a chance to defend his all-around title from Baku 2015, while marking an important step towards his campaign for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

The Rio 2016 silver medalist, who lost by less than a point to Japan’s Kohei Uchimura, will use this competition to hone his routines for next summer’s Games in Japan, while testing the ankle he had surgery on in January. Teammate Igo Radivilov and Russian David Belyavskiy are expected to be his toughest challengers.

With no returning medalists from Baku 2015 on the women's side, the field brings a mix of experienced and rookie gymnasts.

Two-time Olympian Becky Downie of Great Britain, who has twice been European champion on uneven bars, will be up against a host of teenagers fresh from breakthrough performances at the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

While the women's competition may be short of big names, gymnasts from Russia, Romania and Belgium are sure to make an impression.

The individual all-around finals are Saturday, followed by the apparatus finals on Sunday, the final day of the Games.

Russia leads the medals table as of Wednesday evening in MInsk with 61 medals, including 26 gold, followed by host Belarus with 44, and 15 gold.

Georgia and Italy both have six gold, but Georgia has more total medals by 21-14. There are 200 medal events in total at the second edition European Games, 20 of which are mixed gender competitions.

Some 3,667 athletes from all 50 European nations are competing in 15 sports, eight of which serve as qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The European Games run through Sunday, June 30.

Written by Brian Pinelli in Minsk

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