Team 19: Belarus

Men

Sergei Dolidovitch

Leanid Karneyenka

Women

Olga Vasiljonok

Nastassia Dubarezava

Alena Sannikova

What you may have missed last season:

Belarus very quietly made their way into spot number 19 on the Nations Cup. Dolidovitch and Karneyenka were regular starters who picked up the odd point where they could. The greatest success on the team came from Dolidovitch, who finished in the top 10 in the already-infamous lightly-attended 30 k Pursuit in Rybinsk, Russia. In a tight finish, he missed the podium by a mere one second. But for most people, Belarus only appeared on the results radar during the Olympics, and it was from 99% awesome skiing, and 1% humiliating blunder. At the team sprint at the Olympics, Dolidovich and Karneyenka were poised to win one of the semi-finals and step into the final looking great – far better than they had all year. Then on the last lap, tragedy struck – while holding an insurmountable lead, Karneyenka went into the lap lane instead of the finish lane, and the team was assessed a DNF. Ever wondered what it looks like to screw up at the Olympic-level? Try to ignore the commentary…

What You Should Know For This Season

Belarus remains a solid place to head if you’re looking for World Cup success. At least if you’re Nikolai Pankratov. Oh wait…

Who You Should Watch

Dolidovitch and Karneyenka, to see if they’ll ever be paired on the World Cup in a sprint relay ever again. But aside from their sprint relay faux-pas, both skiers do have talent, and can pop off  a hot race to finish in the top 20 at random.