Freestyle skater Anna Guskova
Anna is 33 years old, originally from Minsk. She made her debut at the 2009 World Cup. In 2018, she won a medal at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang — Belarus’ first gold at these Games. That same year, Belarus issued a postage stamp dedicated to her victory.
After the Olympics, the athlete was invited to a ceremonial reception at the Palace of Independence, where President Alexander Lukashenko presented her with one of the highest state awards — the Order of the Fatherland, III degree. After February 24, 2022, she has been neutral on social media and does not even publish her sports life.
Anna Guskova in the ski acrobatics final at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
According to the Belarusian state news agency BELTA, in 2022, some Belarusian athletes who participated in the Winter Olympics in Beijing received scholarships from the Presidential Sports Club. Among them is freestyle skier Anna Guskova, who received financial support from the club at least in 2022.
The Presidential Sports Club is headed by Dmitry Lukashenko (he is the son of Alexander Lukashenko). The club and its leader are under international sanctions.
In 2023 and 2024, Anna Guskova participated in joint training camps and competitions with Russian athletes in Yaroslavl and Moscow. They were jointly funded by the Ministries of Sports of the Russian Federation and Belarus and were positioned as an alternative to the Olympic Movement.
The Minister of Sports of Belarus Sergei Kovalchuk directly noted that despite the sanctions, sports cooperation between “two related countries” — Russia and Belarus — has significantly strengthened in recent years precisely thanks to such alternative competitions.
Belarusian Sports Minister Sergei Kovalchuk (left) and Russian Olympic Committee President Mikhail Degtyarev, February 2025. The head of the Presidential Sports Club of Belarus Dmitry Lukashenko (he is the son of Alexander Lukashenko).
news.sportbox.ru; sb.by
Figure skater Marina Zueva
Marina Zueva from Minsk is 33 years old. Marina Zueva did not win any medals at the Olympic Games, but for many years she has consistently been among the strongest athletes at international competitions.
In 2018, a roller-ski relay race was held in Minsk as part of the celebration of the City Day. Teams from various state structures participated in it. In particular, the team of the President of Belarus, which included Alexander Lukashenko himself and several leading athletes, including Marina Zueva.
The presidentʼs team finished first, ahead of teams from law enforcement agencies (Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Defense) and administrative structures.
Alexander Lukashenko during a sports festival on the occasion of Minsk City Day, where he took part in the relay race as part of the National Olympic Committee team. On the right is skater Marina Zueva, 2018.
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After 2022, Marina Zueva did not appear next to the president or his associates, but she was spotted at events in Russia. In March 2025, she won the 3 000 m distance at the Russian Cup in speed skating in Kolomna, where athletes from Belarus and Russia competed.
This was not an international tournament, but an internal Russian tournament organized by the Russian Ministry of Sports. Participation in it under the Belarusian flag in 2025 calls into question Zuevaʼs neutral status.
The athleteʼs coach Sergei Minin openly supports Lukashenkoʼs policies and Belarusʼ cooperation with Russia, even despite sanctions. In March 2022, he participated in a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, where they discussed how Russia and Belarus can resist sanctions and "Western pressure".
Sergey Minin during his report at a meeting with Alexander Lukashenko, March 2022.
president.gov.by
Figure skater Viktoria Safonova
Viktoria Safonova is 22 years old. She was born in Moscow, but has been playing for Belarus since 2019 — formally, because she trains mainly in Russia. She actually has two coaches: the main one is Russian Oksana Matveeva, and the official one for Belarus is Oleg Vasiliev, a Russian who has been the head coach of the Belarusian national team since 2020.
In his interviews, Vasiliev has repeatedly said that the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions, in his opinion, is due to the desire to eliminate strong competitors. Matveeva works at the Moscow figure skating school "Сhaikovskayaʼs Skate", which is part of the large sports center "Sambo-70".
The center is known for its political loyalty to the Kremlin: the president of "Sambo-70" Renat Laishev has repeatedly thanked Vladimir Putin, calling him "the smartest and greatest politician of our time" and "a father to Russia".
In center: on the right is Viktoria Safonova, on the left is her Russian coach Oksana Matveeva.
З особистого архіву Вікторії Сафронової
The athlete also often appears at Russian competitions, which are held in Russia instead of international ones. For example, in November 2025, she performed in Kazan and Omsk. Although her results were not officially taken into account, she was a full part of the show program of the Russian Grand Prix.
Safonova follows and likes posts by Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, an athlete who supports Putin. Valieva was at the center of a doping scandal during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, when a banned substance was found in her sample.
The Kremlin has since publicly supported Valieva, urging her to “stand proudly as a Russian woman” and not hide her nationality. In 2024, Valieva also confirmed that she voted for Vladimir Putin in the elections.
Viktoria Safonova liked the post of figure skater Kamila Valeeva, who openly supports the head of the Kremlin.
Інстаграм Каміли Валієвої
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