List of Famous people born in Minsk, Belarus
Victoria Azarenka
Victória Fyódorovna Azárenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former world No. 1 in singles, having claimed the top ranking for the first time on 30 January 2012. She was the year-end No. 1 in 2012 and has held the top ranking for a combined total of 51 weeks. Azarenka has won 21 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles titles at the, becoming the first Belarusian player, male or female, to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title. Azarenka is also a three-time major finalist at the US Open, finishing runner-up to Serena Williams in both 2012 and 2013 and to Naomi Osaka in 2020. Her other important singles achievements include winning six Premier Mandatory tournaments, four Premier 5 tournaments, and the singles bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, as well as being the runner-up at the 2011 WTA Finals to Petra Kvitová, reaching three additional Grand Slam singles semifinals, and an additional nine major quarterfinal appearances. She finished with a year-end top 10 singles ranking for five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013.
Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She has been a top ten player in both singles and doubles, having been ranked as high as No. 7 in singles and No. 2 in doubles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam title in doubles at the 2019 US Open alongside Elise Mertens. She has won thirteen WTA titles in total, nine in singles and four in doubles.
Aliaksandr Hleb
Aliaksandr Paulavich Hleb, commonly referred to in English as Alexander Hleb, is a Belarusian former professional footballer.
Alexander Rybak
Alexander Igorevich Rybak or Alyaxandr Iharavich Rybak, is a Belarusian-Norwegian singer-composer, violinist, pianist and actor.
Pavel Sheremet
Pavel Grigorievich Sheremet was a Belarusian-born Russian and Ukrainian journalist who was imprisoned by the government of Belarus in 1997, sparking an international incident between Belarus and Russia. The New York Times has described him as "known for his crusading reports about political abuses in Belarus" and "a thorn in the side of Lukashenko's autocratic government". He was awarded the Committee to Protect Journalists' International Press Freedom Award in 1999 and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Prize for Journalism and Democracy in 2002.
Sergey Rabchenko
Sergey Rabchenko is a Belarusian professional boxer. He currently fights in the light middleweight division.
Zinaida Kupriyanovich
Zinaida Alexandrovna Kupriyanovich, sometimes known professionally as Zina Kupriyanovich or Zena, is a Belarusian singer, actress, and television presenter. Kupriyanovich represented Belarus in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Like It", placing 24th in the final. She has additionally cohosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2018 in Minsk, and voiced the Russian dub of the eponymous character in the film Moana (2016).
Pavel Tsatsouline
Pavel Tsatsouline, is the Chairman of StrongFirst, Inc., a fitness instructor who has introduced SPETSNAZ training techniques from the former Soviet Union to US Navy SEALs, Marines and Army Special Forces, and shortly thereafter to the American public.
Svetlana Boginskaya
Svetlana Leonidovna Boginskaya is a former artistic gymnast for the Soviet Union and Belarus of Belarusian origin. She is a three-time Olympic champion, with an individual gold medal on vault from the 1988 Summer Olympics and team gold medals from the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics.
Vladimir Samsonov
Vladimir Samsonov or Uładzimir Samsonaŭ is a Belarusian professional table tennis player, ranked 18th as of December 2017. He is known in China as the "Tai Chi Master" because of his superb all-around style, both offensive and defensive. Samsonov competed at six consecutive Olympics between 1996 and 2016, placing fourth individually in 2000 and 2016.