体坛英语新闻：Biathlon European Championships kicks off in Belarus

MINSK, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- The official opening ceremony for the 2019 IBU Open European Championships and the Legends Race biathlon festival took place at the Raubichi Olympic Training Center on Monday.

The biathlon festival will last for the whole week. More than 30 countries and regions attended the championships.

The opening ceremony featured a concert of Belarusian singers.

After the opening ceremony, the Race of Legends took place. Many outstanding retired athletes tool part in the race.

Eight-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen took part in Men Mass Start and also competed in Mixed Relay alongside his wife, four-time Olympic champion Darya Domracheva.

Belarusian Nadezhda Skardino won the Women Mass Start at the Race of Legends, Ukrainian Andriy Deryzemlya showed great speed on his skis to win the Men Mass Start, Nadezhda Scardino and Belarusian Sergey Novikov won the Mixed Relay.