Despite his successes at the World Sprint Championships, he never managed to become an Olympic champion. In 1988, as a skater for the Soviet Union, Zhelezovsky won bronze in the 1,000 meters. Six years later in Lillehamer he took silver in the kilometer on behalf of Belarus.
For Zhelezovsky, missing Olympic gold did not feel like a great loss. “When I was little I wanted to be a world champion. Olympic champion meant nothing to me. As a person you set yourself goals and you try to achieve them.”
“As a child I did not know the importance of the Games. Although I was always in very good shape during the Games, there was always one reason or another that prevented it from taking place.”
World champion for three different countries
From 1991 to 1993, Zhelezovsky won three world titles in a row for three different countries. First as a driver of the Soviet Union, a year later on behalf of the Commonwealth of Independent States (the association of ex-Soviet states) and in 1993 as a Belarusian.
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