The agro-town of Veremeyki in the Cherikovsky district became the place where biathlon stars are born

About 60 kilometers along the Mogilev-Cherikov highway, and then turn to Veremeyki and another five kilometers. Beautiful agro-town, where there is everything for a comfortable life. And another attraction, which everyone is proud of here from small to great, is the biathlon department of the Cherikovsky specialized children and youth school of the Olympic reserve. In Veremeyki, every child will name the names of the stars of the Belarusian biathlon: Oleg Ryzhenkov, Vladimir Chepelin, Pavel Pashkevich ... “All of them are ours!” the villagers proudly emphasize.

On the outskirts of the agro-town in a pine forest there is a modest house with a sign “Biathlon Department of Cherikovsky SDYUSHOR”. The Olympic reserve is forging here! This high status sports school received in 1997 for the achievements of its students. The ski track is right in the forest, and the summer version is a roller coaster - and it is difficult to call the track. This is a regular asphalt treadmill stretching just over 100 meters in the schoolyard located across the street from the base. The main inspiration and creator of the famous biathlon section in Veremeyki was the legendary coach Ivan Ivanovich Listratenko. It was he who brought up world sports stars here, including three-time world champion Oleg Ryzhenkov and European Championships medalist Vladimir Chepelin. The current coach Ekaterina Savchenko is also his student

Ivan Ivanovich always said that give a bad coach at least 10 kilometers, but he will not be able to prepare outstanding athletes, and we have stars at 125 meters. For me, he is more than just a coach. I came to biathlon in seventh grade when my parents moved here, so it's a little late to start the sport. But thanks to the coach, I just fell ill with biathlon, he helped me with preparation for admission to the university, and I chose the profession, inspired by the personal example of my mentor.

The base in Veremeyki was built half a century ago. In the state - a family contract: coach Ekaterina Savchenko and her husband Vitaly. His position is officially listed as a comprehensive maintenance worker, but he not only monitors the proper condition of the premises and the surrounding area, but also helps his wife with equipment in training. By the new school year, they made cosmetic repairs on the base on their own. They say that Pasha Pashkevich, a pupil of Catherine, who is now a reserve member of the national team of Belarus, helped to paint the floors. Ekaterina Savchenko emphasizes that their graduates are not conceited, often come, talk to children, share their experience:

- Pasha brought all his medals! This is the best motivation for young athletes. We are always in touch with our graduates, rooting for them. When at the Belarusian biathlon championship in February in the men’s sprint for 10 kilometers Pavel Belko – also a pupil of the Cherikovsky SDYUSHOR, only another branch – took gold, and our Pavel Pashkevich won silver on the same day at the junior championship, we jumped with happiness, shouted “hurrah”, called back and congratulated our guys and coaches.

Young pupils of the sports school in Veremeyki have someone to look up to and be proud of. Dear countrymen! The walls of the study, where theoretical classes are held, are hung with T-shirts-numbers. They all belong to Oleg Ryzhenkov. Today he is the head coach of the national team. Sports connoisseurs know him as one of the most successful biathletes in the sovereign history of Belarus. Personal achievements and contribution to the development of sports in the country made him a true legend. Honored Master of Sports of the Republic of Belarus, multiple world and European champion, winner and prize-winner of the World Cup stages, participated in four Winter Olympic Games. At the World Championships he won ten medals, three of which are gold. And this year, Oleg Ryzhenkov was awarded the title of honorary citizen of the Cherikovsky district. The ceremony was held during the celebration of Independence Day.

Ekaterina Savchenko shows photos of how their pupils during the festive procession drove on ski rollers, carrying a banner, and then took selfies with their idol. Then she turns on the phone video, where Oleg Ryzhenkov addresses the residents of the Cherikovsky district on this holiday. His first words were, “Dear Countrymen!” Oleg Vladimirovich stressed that sport also contributes to the prosperity of the country, because every time an athlete climbs the pedestal, this triumph forces the whole world to learn the name of his homeland. He remembered with gratitude the names of those thanks to whom the biathlon stars lit up on the Cherikovsky land: the director of the Cherikovsky DYUSHORE Alexander Goncharov, who opened the biathlon section, coach Ivan Listratenko.

“Oleg Vladimirovich often comes to Veremeyki, his father lived here, and he never came to us empty-handed,” says Ekaterina Savchenko. Giving skis, helmets, targets, always communicates with children. Teach them how to respect and obey the coach, to be purposeful, to love the place where he was born.

Students of the sports school know that the legendary athlete studied at their school, went to ski and chess circles. And then a young coach Ivan Listratenko came to Veremeyki. One passionate man became a fulcrum that turned the life of a whole village, and proved that the real strength lies not in resources, but in the human will and sincere desire to create. "I want to celebrate the Veremakes." With the arrival of children on the sports base there immediately rose a cheerful gam. The youngest athlete is eight years old.

Walk from school for a couple of minutes, so someone is discussing grades, and the older guys are already focused on the upcoming training, because in a few days they had to participate in the open championship of the Mogilev region in biathlon for the prizes of Dinara Smolskaya.

Before becoming a ski roller, beginner biathletes master roller skates. On rollers, the child learns to keep balance on narrow wheels. Who knows, maybe the young athlete we interviewed is a future world biathlon star. Arthur Kaznacheev at the regional competitions took third place:

- My favorite athlete is Pavel Pashkevich, we are told a lot about him that he was very stubborn and trained a lot. And about Pavel Belko - that he studied for nines. And our coach Ekaterina Viktorovna always checks our diaries.

Lacing shoes, wearing helmets, the guys go to the school treadmill and wind up circles on ski rollers. Many have abrasions on their knees.

Although there is a branch of the children's art school in Veremeyki, many girls liked one of the most difficult sports.

Milana Fattahova, Dasha Silitskaya and Valya Starazuk from fourth grade are clearly inspired by Dinara Smolskaya's victories. Girls in one voice say that they dream of becoming famous biathletes, broken knees are not afraid, they manage to study.

It is likely that soon biathlon fans will learn this name – Anastasia Nikitenko. There are still prizes in her piggy bank at district and regional competitions, but Nastya is only ten years old - still ahead. And now she is training in shooting before the open championship of the region. Rifles are used gas balloon pneumatic, working at the expense of the energy of compressed gas. The girl is adept at loading bullets. By the way, one jar costs about 60 rubles. In general, biathlon is not a cheap sport, but in the branch in Veremeyki, ski equipment and all the necessary equipment are enough. Who does Nastya dream of becoming, you could not ask:

A famous biathlete to make me proud. I have two older brothers, one plays guitar, but I love sports, I play for school in competitions. We have more girls now than boys, studying. And we are not inferior in speed, endurance and willpower.

Village children are often more ready for the heavy loads of big sports. Therefore, city coaches often look for promising guys in the countryside. This applies not only to biathlon and ski racing, but also weight and athletics, wrestling, boxing, rowing. Ekaterina Savchenko proudly says that it was in their Cherikovsky district in the village of Udoga coach at one time found the now famous Elena Nozdreva, who won a bronze medal at the world championship in kayaking and canoeing in August of this year.

- Constant physical labor, assistance to parents on the household, fresh air, natural products and greater independence and motivation than urban children to make their way into life. And we believe that it is necessary to judge genes not even by parents, but by grandfathers and great-grandfathers, as the villagers say, by roots. For example, old-timers say that our great-grandfather Pasha Pashkevich was wiry and stubborn.

The coach notes that the first thing he watches children when they play football or just run down the street. Everyone in the village knows each other. The tests are the simplest: a press, jump from a place. Ekaterina admits that in the village it is easier to interest a child in sports, and her city colleagues complain that they bypass schools with a thousand students, and barely recruit a group.

Today, the country uses science in search and verification of talented children, namely mobile and inpatient medical complexes. This approach allows you to find boys and girls with the necessary physical, coordination and other qualities that indicate a high biological potential in this sport. In Veremeyka, says Catherine, accept all those who wish:

- A biathlete must combine extreme endurance, high speed of movement and absolute accuracy of shooting in pulse conditions up to 180-200 beats per minute. For the younger group, three workouts a week, for the older - up to six. Therefore, from experience, there are guys with excellent physical abilities, but then they quickly give up, and there are, on the contrary, those who achieve high results with perseverance. During the training in Veremeyki came the Director of Cherikovsky SDYUSHOR Irina Pogorilyak (pictured). All the children greeted each other politely, and the headmaster of the sports school noted another advantage of rural children: respectfulness

- Yes, this is the generation of buzzers, but our children are more respectful and modest. We always tell them, ‘Don’t think you’re any worse than those who play sports in the capital.’ Look at how many famous athletes your countrymen are. There are three branches of biathlon in Cherikivskaya SDYUSHOR, there are also in the agro-town of Ezera and in Cherikova itself. We also have an athletics department. The main condition for assigning and maintaining the status of an Olympic reserve school is the regular preparation of a sports reserve for national teams and the transfer of pupils to the highest levels of training. This year, we have two girls – Anya Savchenko and Inga Yaskevich – transferred to the schools of the Olympic reserve. In the national team now our Pavels — Belko and Pashkevich. In Belarus, a clear vertical of sports selection has been built, which allows a talented child from any village to reach the very heights in professional sports.

The director of the sports school speaks with undisguised pride about his coaches. So, in the agro-town of Jezery, trainer Elena Idolenko, like her colleague from Veremeyek, is herself a graduate of this department. This is a continuity that really feels good. For several hours of communication, Ekaterina Savchenko repeatedly quoted her coach: “How Ivan Ivanych liked to say...”

- We are for our children and nurses, and mothers, and friends, and mentors. We recruit children from the age of nine, and then we lead them by the hand for another nine years, experience victories together and not only. As my coach Ivan Ivanovich Listratenko said, first you have to learn to lose. It's art too. The child somewhere won, and then lost, cries, and he needs to be motivated. Children need to feel supported. We instill strong-willed qualities: determination, perseverance, perseverance, determination, courage. And then the "cream" is transferred to the schools of the Olympic reserve. Therefore, I believe that children’s sports schools are the foundation of the Olympic pedestal. And in the village it is more than just a sport, it is the center of social life - children under supervision and in action.

After training, children are traditionally treated to apples from the garden of their coach, and Ekaterina Savchenko shares the secret of attraction of the biathlon department in Veremeyki:

- We're all family here. Wherever our children and their parents go, they always proudly talk about their famous countrymen - athletes. We hold district competitions in Veremeyki, villagers come and cheer for their own and other people's children. Together with the pupils, we fry lard at the stake and eat cakes on holidays. I am happy that I have a favorite job. What's my dream? We would like a new roller ski track, a kilometer is no longer necessary, and we guarantee the result!