Minsk 2019 Sports
Click on a sport to find out more
3x3 Basketball
Date of competition: June 21 to 24
Medal events: Two
Athletes: 128
Venue: Palova Arena
3x3 basketball is a form of the game played three-a-side on one hoop. It is the largest urban team sport of the world, according to an International Business School in Europe study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee.
This discipline is currently being promoted and structured by the International Basketball Federation, the sport's governing body.
Its main competition is an annual FIBA 3x3 World Tour, comprising a series of masters and one final tournament awarding six-figure prize money in United States dollars.
The FIBA 3x3 World Championships is the most prestigious tournament for national teams.
In September 2018, a media personalities side won a 3x3 basketball tournament held as part of Minsk 2019's "Bright Team" initiative.
Eight teams took part in all at the Palova Arena, which will host 3x3 basketball during the Games.
Winning side Stolichnue beat Silver Screen 9-8 in the final after knocking out a Minsk 2019 Organising Committee outfit in the last four.
Russia netted an unexpected double at Baku 2015 by winning the men’s and women’s events.
Archery
Date of competition: June 21 to 27
Medal events: Eight
Athletes: 128
Venue: Olympic Sports Complex
An archery test event is set to be held in Minsk from May 2 to 5 as part of preparations for the 2019 European Games.
It will form part of a Belarusian Championship, allowing athletes to evaluate the infrastructure of the venue - the Olympic Sports Complex - and reveal what, if any, problems need addressing ahead of the Games.
Archery featured on the Baku 2015 sports programme with Italy winning two of the five gold medals on offer thanks to success in the women’s team and mixed team events.
Ukraine took the men’s team title, while Spain’s Miguel Alvariño Garcia and Germany’s Karina Winter topped the men’s and women’s individual podiums respectively.
Athletics
Date of competition: June 23 to 28
Medal events: Nine
Athletes: 630
Venue: Dinamo Stadium
European Athletics’ Dynamic New Athletics (DNA) concept will be adopted at the Minsk 2019 European Games.
Details of DNA were released in 2018, with European Athletics billing the format as an "action-packed new mixed-gender team event built on tactics, competitiveness and grit".
The team competition will feature 100 metres events for men and women, along with sprint hurdles races.
It will also include a mixed 4x400m relay, as well as men's high jump and women's long jump and javelin.
In addition to the more traditional events, new disciplines "The Hunt" and "Track’athlon" will both feature on the programme.
A total of 30 nations will take part in the competition, determined by the ranking after the 2017 European Team Championships.
Six teams will feature in each match, with the winners and highest second-place team advancing from the first round to the semi-finals.
The remaining 24 teams will compete in the second round, with the four winners and two best runners-up reaching the semi-final.
The top three teams in both semi-finals will qualify to the final stage of the tournament, where the team medallists will be decided.
Badminton
Date of competition: June 24 to 30
Medal events: Five
Athletes: 160
Venue: Falcon Club
Badminton featured on the Baku 2015 sports programme with Denmark’s medal haul of three golds, one silver and one bronze seeing the country reign supreme.
Line Kjaersfeldt won the women’s singles title and there were also triumphs for Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in the men’s doubles and Sara Thygesen and Niclas Nohr in the mixed doubles.
There was disappointment for Denmark’s Emil Holst in the men’s singles final, losing to Spain’s Pablo Abián, while the women’s doubles title went the way of Bulgarian sisters Gabriela and Stefani Stoeva.
Beach Soccer
Date of competition: June 25 to 29
Medal events: One
Athletes: 96
Venue: Olympic Sports Complex
As the name itself says, beach soccer is played on sandy surfaces.
But its practice is not limited to natural beaches.
In many countries, beach soccer is played on artificially-built pitches, even indoors.
The recently-constructed National Beach Soccer Stadium, which was officially opened in August 2018, will play host to the sport at Minsk 2019.
Four countries took part in a Euro Beach Soccer Lague tournament to inaugurate the venue, which took just two months to build.
Ground was broken at the new venue as Belarus held its International Olympic Day celebrations around the country in June 2018.
A men's beach soccer tournament was held at the inaugural European Games in Baku in 2015, with Russia winning gold in Azerbaijan.
Minsk 2019 will again only feature male players.
Boxing
Date of competition: June 21 to 30
Medal events: 15
Athletes: 316
Venue: Uruchie Sports Palace
Amateur boxing as part of the Minsk 2019 sports programme has a complex set of rules, but the basics are fairly simple.
It is a single-elimination tournament with each men's bout consisting of three rounds of three minutes and each women's bout consisting of four rounds of two minutes.
The winner in each of the 15 weight classes - 10 men’s and five women’s - will take home a gold medal.
Hosts Azerbaijan were the dominant force in boxing at Baku 2015, topping the sport’s medal standings with six gold, one silver and four bronze.
Canoe Sprint
Date of competition: June 25 to 27
Medal events: 16
Athletes: 350
Venue: Zaslavl Regatta Course
Canoe sprint is one of the sport’s best-known competitive disciplines.
This is mainly due to its Olympic inclusion since the 1936 Games in Berlin.
It is contested on flatwater over four distances - 200 metres, 500m, 1000m and 5000m.
In September 2018, Aliaksandr Bahdanovich, the canoe sprint athlete who won gold in the C2 1,000m at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and is now deputy of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, was named as a Minsk 2019 ambassador.
Hungary were the best-performing country in canoe sprint at Baku 2015, amassing five gold and five bronze medals.
Cycling Road
Date of competition: June 22 to 25
Medal events: Four
Athletes: 226
Venue: Minsk
The cycling road races will take place along the central avenues of Minsk.
The routes were developed with television broadcasting requirements and main sights and picturesque areas in mind.
In September 2018, cyclists representing the Minsk 2019 European Games Organising Committee were among those to take part in a cross-border "international ride of friendship".
The event saw riders pedal the 42 kilometres between the Belarus city of Grodno and Druskininkai in Lithuania.
Organisers dedicated the ride to Minsk 2019, while it also helped to celebrate the 890th anniversary of Grodno.
Belarus won two of the road cycling gold medals at Baku 2015, courtesy of Vasil Kiryienka in the men’s individual time trial and Alena Amialiusik in the women’s road race.
Spain’s Luis León Sánchez Gil won the men’s road race, while The Netherlands’ Ellen van Dijk prevailed in the women’s individual time trial.
Cycling Track
Date of competition: June 27 to 30
Medal events: 20
Athletes: 316
Venue: Minsk Arena
With the exception of the 1912 Games in Stockholm, track cycling has featured on the sports programme of every Olympics.
Women's events were first included in the Olympics at Seoul 1988.
Track cycling was absent from the Baku 2015 sports programme due to practical reasons.
Gymnastics Acrobatic
Date of competition: June 22 to 23
Medal events: 6
Athletes: 40
Venue: Minsk Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: N/A
Acrobatic is a competitive gymnastics discipline where partners work together and perform figures consisting of acrobatic moves, dance and tumbling, set to music.
There are three types of routines; a "balance" routine where the focus is on strength, poise and flexibility; a "dynamic" routine which includes throws, somersaults and catches, and a "combined" routine which includes elements from both balance and dynamic.
Like the four other gymnastics disciplines, it will be showcased for the second successive European Games at Minsk 2019.
The programme at Baku 2015 was considered particularly innovative because as well as the three Olympic disciplines of men and women's artistic, rhythmic and trampoline, it also included the non-Olympic disciplines of aerobic and acrobatic on the same one for the first time.
Gymnastics Aerobic
Date of competition: June 24 to 25
Medal events: 2
Athletes: 56
Venue: Minsk Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: N/A
Aerobic gymnastics originates from traditional aerobics in which complex, high-intensity movement patterns and elements of varying difficulty are performed to music.
Like the four other gymnastics disciplines, it will be showcased for the second successive European Games at Minsk 2019.
The programme at Baku 2015 was considered particularly innovative because as well as the three Olympic disciplines of men and women's artistic, rhythmic and trampoline, it also included the non-Olympic disciplines of aerobic and acrobatic on the same one for the first time.
Gymnastics Artistic
Date of competition: June 27 to 30
Medal events: 12
Athletes: 90
Venue: Minsk Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: No
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of the sport in which athletes perform short routines, ranging from approximately 30 to 90 seconds, on different apparatuses, with less time for vaulting.
It is a popular spectator sport at the Olympic Games.
Like the four other gymnastics disciplines, artistic will be showcased for the second successive European Games at Minsk 2019.
The programme at Baku 2015 was considered particularly innovative because as well as the three Olympic disciplines of men and women's artistic, rhythmic and trampoline, it also included the non-Olympic disciplines of aerobic and acrobatic on the same one for the first time.
Gymnastics Rhythmic
Date of competition: June 22 to 23
Medal events: 8
Athletes: 52
Venue: Minsk Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: No
Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which individuals or groups of five or more manipulate one or two pieces of apparatus from rope, hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and freehand.
It combines elements of ballet, gymnastics, dance and apparatus manipulation.
The victor is the participant who earns the most points, determined by a panel of judges, for leaps, balances, pirouettes, apparatus handling and execution.
The choreography must cover the entire floor and contain a balance of jumps, leaps, pivots, balances - a certain number is required depending on the gymnast's level - and flexibility movements.
Each movement involves a high degree of athletic skill.
Physical abilities needed by a rhythmic gymnast include strength, power, flexibility, agility, dexterity, endurance and hand-eye coordination.
Like the four other gymnastics disciplines, rhythmic will be showcased for the second successive European Games at Minsk 2019.
The programme at Baku 2015 was considered particularly innovative because as well as the three Olympic disciplines of men and women's artistic, rhythmic and trampoline, it also included the non-Olympic disciplines of aerobic and acrobatic on the same one for the first time.
Gymnastics Trampoline
Date of competition: June 24 to 25
Medal events: 4
Athletes: 48
Venue: Minsk Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: No
Trampolining is an Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing.
In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, full flip, or straddle position to more complex combinations of forward or backward somersaults and twists.
Scoring is based on the difficulty and on the total seconds spent in the air.
Points are deducted for bad form and horizontal displacement from the centre of the bed.
Like the four other gymnastics disciplines, trampoline will be showcased for the second successive European Games at Minsk 2019.
The programme at Baku 2015 was considered particularly innovative because as well as the three Olympic disciplines of men and women's artistic, rhythmic and trampoline, it also included the non-Olympic disciplines of aerobic and acrobatic on the same one for the first time.
Judo
Dates of competition: June 22 to 25
Medal events: 15
Athletes: 400
Venue: Chizhovka Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: Part of process
Judo returns to the European Games sports programme at Minsk 2019 having also featured on that of Baku 2015.
In August 2018, organisers of Minsk 2019 held a "Bright Team" event in judo.
The initiative has the goal of involving more people in the 15 sports on the European Games sports programme.
The judo event saw participants put through their paces by Belarus judoka Marina Slutskaya, a former European champion.
Minsk 2019 deputy chief executive Anatoly Kotov and head of marketing Maxim Koshkalda were among those to take part.
Judo became an Olympic sport at the 1964 Games in Tokyo.
France, Russia and The Netherlands each claimed three gold medals in judo at Baku 2015, more than all other countries.
Karate
Dates of competition: June 29 to 30
Medal events: 12
Athletes: 96
Venue: Chizhovka Arena
Tokyo 2020 qualification: Direct
Karate returns to the European Games sports programme at Minsk 2019 having also featured on that at Baku 2015.
In September 2018, Minsk 2019 star ambassador Darya Domracheva took part in a karate demonstration as part of the organisers "Bright Team" project.
The scheme has the goal of involving more people in the 15 sports on the European Games programme.
Participants in the demonstration were guided by Andrey Grinevich, a seven-time national champion in karate.
Grinevich will be among Belarus’ medal hopes in the sport at Minsk 2019 and secured a podium finish during last season’s Karate-1 Premier League campaign.
Hosts Azerbaijan topped the karate medal standings at Baku 2015 with four golds and two bronzes.
There were victories for Firdovsi Farzaliyev, Rafael Aghayev and Aykhan Mamayev in the men’s kumite under-60 kilograms, under-75kg and under-84kg categories respectively, while Irina Zaretska topped the podium in the women’s kumite under-68kg division.
Sambo
Dates of competition: June 22 to 23
Medal events: 18
Athletes: 144
Venue: Minsk Sports Palace
Tokyo 2020 qualification: N/A
Sambo, a martial art and combat sport, was confirmed as being part of the sports programme for the second European Games in May 2017.
Developed and used by the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s to improve their hand-to-hand combat abilities, it also featured at the inaugural edition in Baku in 2015.
Russia won five of the eight gold medals on offer with two going to Belarus and one to Serbia.
Hosts Belarus are hoping to win at least 10 sambo medals at Minsk 2019.
This would be three more than the country managed in 2015, when it added two silvers and three bronzes to its haul.
In November 2018, sambo was granted provisional International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition for a period of three years.
The International Sambo Federation, the world governing body for the sport, is now able to receive funding from the IOC and able to apply for grants to help fund its development programmes.
Shooting Rifle & Pistol
Date of competition: June 22 to 28
Medal events: 13
Athletes: 208
Venue: Shooting Centre
Tokyo 2020 qualification: Direct
Rifle and pistol shooting will make its second consecutive European Games appearance at Minsk 2019 having featured on the Baku 2015 sports programme.
The discipline commonly uses rifles shot at short and medium distances chambered for traditional pistol calibers.
It is popular in countries where traditional pistol shooting is difficult or not possible.
Italy and Serbia claimed the most gold medals overall at Baku 2015, including those in shotgun events, by amassing four each.
Germany finished third with three.
In January 2019, an all-event package for shotgun and rifle and pistol events at Minsk 2019 went on sale due to high demand for tickets.
A decision was taken to introduce the package for a shotgun session in a dedicated standing zone at Sporting Club, and the preliminary rounds in rifle and pistol at the Shooting Centre.
This came with some 66 per cent of the seats at the two venues having reportedly been snapped up.
Shooting Shotgun
Date of competition: June 22 to 28
Medal events: 6
Athletes: 122
Venue: Sporting Club
Tokyo 2020 qualification: Direct
Shotgun shooting will make its second consecutive European Games appearance at Minsk 2019 having featured on the Baku 2015 sports programme.
The discipline, also known as skeet shooting, sees participants attempt to break clay targets mechanically flung into the air from two fixed stations at high speed from a variety of angles.
Skeet is one of the three major disciplines of competitive clay pigeon shooting.
The others are trap shooting and sporting clays.
There are several types of skeet, including one with Olympic status and many with only national recognition.
Italy and Serbia claimed the most gold medals overall at Baku 2015, including those in rifle and pistol events, by amassing four each.
Germany finished third with three.
In January 2019, an all-event package for shotgun and rifle and pistol events at Minsk 2019 went on sale due to high demand for tickets.
A decision was taken to introduce the package for a shotgun session in a dedicated standing zone at Sporting Club, and the preliminary rounds in rifle and pistol at the Shooting Centre.
This came with some 66 per cent of the seats at the two venues having reportedly been snapped up.
Table Tennis
Dates of competition: June 22 to 29
Medal events: Five
Athletes: 128
Venue: Olympic Tennis Centre
Tokyo 2020 qualification: Direct
Table tennis gold medals at Baku 2015 were split between Germany, The Netherlands and Portugal.
Germany’s came in the men’s singles event, courtesy of Dimitrij Ovtcharov, and the women’s team competition.
Dutchwoman Li Jiao took the women’s singles crown, while Portugal claimed the men's team title.
There will be one additional event at Minsk 2019 with mixed doubles also scheduled.
The three medallists in the men's and women's singles events will qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, while the gold medallists in the men's and women's team and mixed doubles events will receive an Olympic quota.
Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988, with several event categories.
From 1988 until 2004, these were men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles and women's doubles competitions.
Since 2008, a team event has been played instead of the doubles.
Wrestling
Dates of competition: June 25 to 30
Medal events: 18
Athletes: 288
Venue: Minsk Sports Palace
Tokyo 2020 qualification: No
Wrestling competition at the European Games is made up of men’s freestyle, men’s Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle.
Russia were the dominant force in the sport at Baku 2015, securing 11 of the 24 gold medals on offer.
Five came in men’s freestyle and men’s Greco-Roman with the other being achieved in women’s freestyle through Valeria Lazinskaya.
In September 2018, more than 300 athletes took part in an international freestyle wrestling event in Minsk as part of preparations for the 2019 European Games.
Athletes from the host nation Belarus picked up eight medals during the test event, which took place at the Minsk Sports Palace.
The venue also hosted a Greco-Roman wrestling tournament, which also acted as a test event.
One of the most famous wrestlers of the 20th century, the triple Olympic gold medallist Aleksandr Medved, is a Star Ambassador for Minsk 2019.
