Aliaksandra Gerasimenia: Awhite-red-white flag is closer to me

The world champion and the Olympics-2012 silver medalist told about her attitude to Belarus’ symbols and history.

During five days the readers of Pressball had an opportunity to ask Aliaksandra Gerasimenia absolutely any question. As it is supposed for a person of the year, the sportswoman satisfied the fans’ interest in detail and substantially, having not ignored even the questions which average Belarusian sportsmen are afraid of answering.

One of the questions was about the symbols of our country. “Which flag is closer to you – the green-red or the white-red-white”, - one of the readers asked.

“In terms of esthetics the white-red-white is, of course, more attractive. And its history is way richer and more eventful – the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Navagrudak, Mir, Niasvizh, the same old Kletsk. I do not want to think that Belarus starts in 1917 and be proud that we are world champions in the number of streets named after Lenin, Marx, Engels and god knows whom else, who never was here. Our history has many glorious dates, and let’s not forget that in its times the GDL was one of the most influential states in Europe.

I was very impressed by an interview of our famous historian Zakhar Shybeka, in which he told a lot of the unknown pages of the country’s history. It it, of course, a shame that we missed the initiative, and now these are the Lithuanians, who consider themselves the inheritor of that great state. We lack the roots in order to feel ourselves a great nation, and genetics is a great thing, which makes wonders even through ages”.