Aliaksei Abalmasau
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Aliaksei Abalmasau (or Aleksey Abalmasov), born 20 June 1980 in Barysaŭ, is a Belarusian flatwater canoer and current world champion.
He first came to prominence in 2000 when he won three gold medals at the European under-23 championships at Boulogne, France - the two-man kayak (K2) 1000m with Vadzim Makhneu and both K4 events (500m and 1000m). They retained both K4 under-23 titles in 2002.
The under-23 K-4 gold medallists were gradually promoted to the Belarus senior boat. Abalmasau's first senior appearance was at the 2000 European championships. They rapidly challenged the world's elite, winning two bronze medals at the European championships in Milan in 2001 and the world championship silver medal in Seville in 2002. In 2003 however excellent early-season results were not repeated at the world championships in Gainesville, USA as they finished out of the medals.
In 2004, with Dziamyan Turchyn now on board in place of Aliaksei Skurkouski they won the senior European 500m silver medal in Poznań, Poland. In the Olympic final in Athens they finished sixth.
In 2005 the Belarus K4 crew established themselves as the world's number one 500m boat. A gold medal in the European final was followed by victory at the 2005 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. They also won the bronze medal in the 200m final.
They made an excellent start to the 2006 season with a clean sweep of gold medals (200m, 500m, 1000m) at the first World Cup event at Poznań.
The ever-reliable Abalmasau is perhaps the unsung hero of the crew. He is 182 cm (6'0") tall and weighs 77 kg (170 lbs).
World Championship medals
- 2005 World Championships - gold medal, K4 500m
- 2005 World Championships - bronze medal, K4, 200m
- 2002 World Championships - silver medal, K4 500m
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