Little is known about skating in Belarus inside the Russian empire or in the early Soviet years. But in the late 40s, Boris Bolshakov from Minsk was a good sprinter, winning the 500 m at the Soviet championship 1948. And in the 1960s, Eduard Matusevich from the same city became a great favourite, an elegant skater, especially popular with the female audience and with a special relationship with the Bislett audience. Three of his personal bests are set there. His speciality was the 1500 m, where he set 3 lowland world records, 2.07,3 in Gjøvik 1966, 2.05,6 at Bislett 1967 and 2.04,5 at Bislett 1968, all in the vicinity of the then current world records. His success rate is curiously much higher in the European than in the world championships, winning the championship in 1965, and taking a bronze in 1967 and a silver in 1968. Apparently, he had a tendency of peaking too early - two of his lowland WRs are set in the new-year races. His best world championship is in fact his second in 1964, with a 4th place. But he should have won it in his top year 1965, without that famous fall in the 500 m which gave Per Ivar Moe the title.
Despite the stature of Matusevich, Igor Zhelezovski from Orsha is no doubt the greatest Belorussian speedskater, winning the sprint world championships 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1993, a record 6 times. At his best, he was invincible in the 1000 m, winning 12 of them in the championships, as well as five 500 meters. He started out as a good allrounder, winning a silver in the junior world championship 1982, behind Geir Karlstad. Here he won the 1500 m and finished 2nd in the long distances, but only 6th in the sprint, perhaps due to a mishap. Then his career didn't take off until he was picked out as a reply to the strong 1000 meters of Boucher in the sprint world championships. The 1985 championship was a classical struggle between the two signalling the changing of the guards in the sprinting world. The outdoor lowland WR of 1.14,30 set by Zhelezovski here lasted for a good many years.
But in the Olympic games, he was remarkably unsuccessful. Sarajevo came just too early for him. In 1988 he had skipped the SWC to prepare for the games, but in the 1000 m, the fast opening of his pairmate Mey caught him off-guard and he never managed to equal the difference, finishing also behind Guliaev. A 4th place in the 1500 m then was poor consolation. In Albertville 1992 he was the victim of misjudged altitude training, and only finished 6th in his favourite distance, though only 20/100 away from gold. In Hamar 1994, his preparations had suffered from the poverty of the young republic and he was not in the same shape as before. But he won an exciting duel with Klevchenya in the first pair of the 1000 m, setting a new Olympic record, only to lose his last chance for gold in the end to Dan Jansen.
Belarus have fared better after independence than the Ukraine. They have better winters, and their dictator Lukashenko seems to be a sport enthusiast, who supports skating. Apparently only 3 towns have skating clubs, but they produce a string of talents and are somewhat active internationally. Vitaly Novichenko, 5th in the JWC 1994, skated several international races of reasonable quality. Svetlana Chepelnikova was an allround talent who finished 14th in the European championship 2001. But the big star is Anzhelika Kotyuga, who did best of the Belorussians in Nagano 1998 with a 16th place in the 500 m, and later became a serious contestant in the sprint world championships, winning a bronze medal 2002 and one of the 1000 meters. To the Salt Lake City OWG, Belarus sent 5 skaters, more than ever. But the 5th place of Kotyuga in the 500 m was their best achievement. The last two years she has finished 6th in the sprint championships and at the WSD she had been among the favourites in the sprint, winning a bronze in the 500 m 2003, improving it to a silver this year. In the world cup, she has won 2 distances and 10 other medals. There has been talking of an indoor stadium in Minsk, which will give skating in the country a boost. But the realisation of the project is doubtful at present, so Kotjuga and another talent, Andrej Khatylev, who beat Zhelezovski's 18 year old national record in the 500 m last year, are spending a lot of time on the fast North American ovals. Time well spent, it appears.
Statistics:
Belorussian records:
Igor Zhelezovski 10.08 Heerenveen Mar 16, 1993
Aleksei Khatylev 36.41 Salt Lake City Nov 15, 2003
Aleksei Khatylev 1.11.32 Salt Lake City Mar 9, 2003
Aleksei Khatylev 1.49.79 Salt Lake City Feb 22, 2003
Igor Makovetski 3.59.17 Calgary Nov 25, 2001
Oleg Psevkin 6.52.74 Calgary Nov 28, 1999
Vitali Novichenko 14.31.10 Heerenveen Nov 22, 1998
Aleksei Khatylev 145.250 Salt Lake City Jan 11-12, 2003
36.56-1.11.88-36.88-1.11.74
Oleg Psevkin 157.990 Calgary Nov 26-28, 1999
38.90-3.59.96-1.53.47-6.52.74
Igor Zhelezovski 166.201 Medeo Mar 25-26, 1983
38.09-7.09.84-1.54.26-15.40.82
Anzhelika Kotyuga 10.72 Salt Lake City Jan 10, 2003
Anzhelika Kotyuga 37.66 Salt Lake City Feb 14, 2002
Anzhelika Kotyuga 1.14.71 Salt Lake City Jan 11, 2003
Anzhelika Kotyuga 1.59.23 Calgary Dec 9, 2001
Svetlana Chepelnikova 4.19.76 Calgary Jan 27, 2002
Svetlana Chepelnikova 7.34.69 Heerenveen Nov 25, 2000
Anzhelika Kotyuga 151.620 Salt Lake City Jan 11-12, 2003
38.09-1.14.71-38.20-1.15.95
Anzhelika Kotyuga 165.314 Calgary Nov 26-28, 1999
39.58-2.02.90-1.18.09-4.34.34
Svetlana Chepelnikova 177.887 Baselga di Pine Jan 12-14, 2001
41.96-2.08.56-4.32.22-7.57.04
Championships won:
World championships: 0
World champions: 0
European championships: 0(1)
Europaan champions: 0(1)
Sprint world championships: 2(6)
Sprint world champions: 1
Female championships: 0
Female champions: 0
Total championships: 2(7)
Total champions: 1(2)
Belarus distance winners in international championships:
(1).Eduard Matusevich 1 in the 1500 m at ECh Bislett 1968 (2.04,5)
(2).Igor Zhelezovski 17 in the sprint-WCh, 5 in 500 m and 12 in
1000 m
1.Anzjelike Kotjuga 1 in the 1000 m at the sprint-WCh Hamar 2002
(1.16,67)
Belarus Olympic top 6 achievements:
(1).Eduard Matusevich 6th, 1500 m, Innsbruck 1964 (2.12,2)
(2).Igor Zhelezovski 6th, 500 m, Calgary 1988 (36,94)
(3).Igor Zhelezovski bronze, 1000 m, Calgary 1988 (1.13,19)
(4).Igor Zhelezovski 4th, 1500 m, Calgary 1988 (1.52,63)
1.Igor Zhelezovski 6th, 1000 m, Albertville 1992 (1.15,05)
2.Igor Zhelezovski Silver, 1000 m, Hamar 1994 (1.12,72)
3.Anzhelika Kotyuga 5th, 500 m, Salt Lake City 1998 (37,73-37,83)
The most frequent participants in international senior championships
and
Olympic games:
1.Anzhelika Kotyuga 21 times
2.Eduard Matusevich 15 (all for USSR)
3.Vitaly Novichenko 13
4.Igor Zhelezovski 12 (7 for USSR)
5.Svetlana Radkevich 9
6.Svetlana Chepelnikova 6
7.Igor Makovetski 5
8.Olga Klyga 4
9.Aleksei Khatylev 3
10.Lyudmila Kostyukevich 2
Oleg Psevkin 2
12.Sergei Novichenko 1
Irina Safrankova 1
Vitaly Rogovtsev 1
Olga Vizgina 1
Oleg Moiseev 1
Yulia Yasenok 1