The 3rd CIS Games officially opened at the Ganja Central City Stadium in Azerbaijan, BelTA has learned.
Following a welcoming address by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the opening ceremony commenced with cultural productions that highlighted Azerbaijan’s history and traditions. As part of the proceedings, delegations paraded through the stadium, with the Belarusian flag borne by taekwondo athlete Yulia Vitko and swimmer Maksim Malyshka, who has already won a silver medal at the competition.
The 3rd CIS Games are underway at 12 venues across seven Azerbaijani cities: Ganja, Yevlakh, Mingachevir, Gabala, Shaki, Goygol, and Khankendi. The tournament, which is running until 8 October, features 1,624 athletes under the age of 23, representing 13 countries: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Cuba, Kuwait, Pakistan, and Oman.
Fielding a team of 241 athletes across 21 disciplines, Belarus has collected 15 medals (one gold, five silver, and nine bronze) in the first three days. The full list of sports features football, basketball, volleyball, swimming, sambo, boxing, judo, taekwondo, badminton, table tennis, trampoline, archery, target shooting, fencing, wrestling, karate, rowing, canoeing, rhythmic gymnastics, and chovgan (a local equestrian sport similar to polo).
