The 4th Winter Junior Olympic Games started in Korea: first impressi

Dmitrii Torner: "Our mission is to ensure that for the current juniors, their first Olympic experience will truly be their first, not their only one."

Today, on January 19th, the opening ceremony of the 4th edition of the Winter Youth Olympic Games took place in Gangwon, Republic of Korea. Moldova is represented by 5 athletes - the largest national team since 2012. Moldova will participate in the biathlon and cross-country skiing competitions.

The biathlon team has been training in Korea since Monday. Vladislav Maistrov, Arina Rusu, and Dinu Belevak, along with coaches Nadezhda Briya and Svyatoslav Malyutin, are preparing to participate in competitions on January 20, 21, and 23.

Emilia Sainchuk and Mihail Karpov will arrive at the Olympic Games on January 26, where the cross-country skiing competition will also take place on the same slopes.

"Since the first edition of the Youth Olympic Games, the Republic of Moldova has participated in them. We always compete in biathlon. However, while in 2012 and 2016 there was only one participant from the republic, in 2020 there were 2 participants, now for the first time Moldova has such a record representation. We have worked hard to be here on this day and to tell the whole world that our children are worthy athletes. We feel great support from the National Biathlon Federation and the entire biathlon community. We believe that this support will be reflected in our results," said Nadezhda Briya.

Earlier, the president of the Biathlon Federation, Dmitrii Torner, stated that they had prepared a surprise and gifts for the young athletes before they traveled to the Olympics.

"Unfortunately, only one of the participants from previous editions of the Children's Olympics has remained in the sport. The others were forced to leave the sport due to a lack of financial support from the federation and the state at that time, as biathlon is not an inexpensive sport. Therefore, it is our duty that this first Olympics in their lives, for the current juniors, is truly the first and not the only one. These boys have been educated by the Republic of Moldova and are ready to bring victories to their country," said Dmitrii Torner.

As previously reported, during training, the young athletes recorded video messages in which they shared what it means for them to participate in the Olympics and how much effort they personally put into it.

This year, 1,900 participants from around the world will compete in Gangwon. The Youth Olympics will take place from January 19 to February 1, 2024. You can follow the competition on the official website https://olympics.com/en/gangwon-2024/.