Belarus crowns its strongest SAMBO athletes

The 2026 Belarus SAMBO Championships took place at the Republican Centre for Olympic Training “Stayki”. According to the press service of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, around 150 athletes competed for 14 sets of medals.

Several decorated athletes claimed titles in the men's competition. World Championships medallist Uladzislau Sayapin took gold in the 78kg category, while his national team colleague and fellow World Championships medallist Dzmitry Khakhlou topped the podium at 98kg.

World Cup medallists Ihar Miraeuski (71kg) and Ilya Zhupikau (over 98kg) also claimed first place. Junior World Champion Uladzislau Norka won the 88kg category, while Siarhei Hutyrchyk (58kg) and Hleb Tuminski (64kg) added gold medals to their collections.

Reigning world champions dominated the women's competition. First-place finishes went to Anfisa Kapayeva (50kg), Alena Burdenka (54kg), Daniela Zhdan (65kg), Anzhela Zhylinskaya (72kg) and Maryia Kandratsyeva (over 80kg).

European Youth Champion Darya Navitskaya won the 80kg category, and World Cup medallist Vera Tsialiuk topped the 59kg category.

“The Belarus SAMBO Championships once again confirmed the high level of the national school: almost all of the tournament's winners already have experience competing for and winning medals at World and European Championships and World Cups,” the national SAMBO federation said in a statement.