Nikolai Kozeko, The Legendary Coach Of The Belarusian Freestyle Skiers, Has Died
1- 11.08.2026, 18:53
- 1,916
In 2020, he supported the protests.
Renowned Belarusian freestyle coach Nikolai Kozeiko has passed away at the age of 76—under his guidance, athletes won eight Olympic medals, including four gold medals. The news of the coach’s passing was announced on Instagram by Vadim Devyatovsky, a world champion in hammer throw, an Olympic and European Championship medalist, and a Merited Master of Sports of Belarus.
According to Devyatovsky, Kozeko passed away on August 10—his death was sudden. The athlete did not disclose the cause of death.
Devyatovsky, who knew the coach personally, described him as “a very friendly, kind, intelligent person and, without a doubt, a true professional in his field.”
Nikolai Kozeko was born on April 5, 1950, in Minsk. He began his athletic career in trampoline and became the Soviet Union champion in 1972. He began coaching freestyle skiing in the 1980s, and from the early 1990s onward, he led the Belarusian national team for many years.
During his tenure, his athletes won eight Olympic medals. Dmitry Dashchinsky won bronze at the 1998 Games and silver in 2006, while Alexey Grishin won bronze in 2002 and gold in 2010. At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Alla Tsuper and Anton Kushnir won gold medals, and in 2018, Anna Guskov took first place, adding a silver medal to her collection in 2022.
Kozeko held the title of Honored Coach of Belarus and was a full Knight of the Order of the Fatherland.
After the 2020 presidential election, he signed an open letter from representatives of the sports community calling for a fair vote count and an end to violence. As a result, the coach was first stripped of his presidential stipend and then removed from his position with the national team.
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