Nations Cup Ranking: 19th (229 pts)
Men: 15th (179 pts)
Women: 20th (55 pts)
2010/2011 A Team (Best estimate)
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.
5 comments
davord
October 31, 2010 at 3:59 pm
I think Karneyenka skied to a podium finish in the 15 km skate in Sapporo 2007. That was the infamous race where heavy snowfall ruined most people’s race. He was one of the lucky ones that started very early and avoided much of the heavy stuff, if my memory serves me right.
JoranElias
October 31, 2010 at 5:33 pm
@davord – Yes, Karneyenka was 2nd in the 15k skate in Sapporo. His next best distance result is a 51st I believe in a 30k mass start skate in 2009. He’s made it past the qualification round 3 times in WC sprint races (15th, 29th, 20th).
ksalzberg
November 1, 2010 at 10:34 am
When I tried to look at the video, this is what I got:
“This video contains content from International Olympic Committee, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.
Kieran Jones
November 4, 2010 at 12:30 pm
ksalzberg – hmm, not sure about that. I know the video works in the Great White North, and I’m a little surprised that the IOC can block video – it is international after all.
Can you not see any video from the Olympics on YouTube?
JoranElias
November 4, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Kieran-
Yes, any organization can request that youtube remove videos. The specifics vary by case, but the law (DCMA) is generally unfavorable to the person trying to post videos on youtube. The IOC is particularly stringent about this in the US, where it’s tv deals are so lucrative. So “homemade” videos from the events stay up, but videos of “official” coverage are likely to be removed. Occasionally one or two slip through the cracks, but in general, no, you can’t watch clips of official Olympic coverage on youtube in the us.