Dmitri Dovgalenok, right, will lead the Belarusian team at Buenos Aires 2018 ©Belarus Olympic Committee

Olympic canoe champion Dmitri Dovgalenok has been appointed as the Belarus Chef de Mission for this year's Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

The decision was made at a Belarus National Olympic Committee meeting on May 7.

Vasily Yurchik, the head of the international affairs department at the Belarus NOC, has been appointed as Dovgalenok's deputy.

Belarus currently have 12 quota places for the Games, one in table tennis, one in trampolining, one in rhythmic gymnastics, one in rife shooting, one in sailing, one in rowing, two in acrobatics and four in swimming.

The decision was made at a Belarus Olympic Committee meeting in Minsk ©Belarus Olympic Committee
The decision was made at a Belarus Olympic Committee meeting in Minsk ©Belarus Olympic Committee

Dovgalenok won the C2 500 metres event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and subsequently won the C2 200m gold medal at the World Championships in Mexico City in 1994.

Buenos Aires 2018 will feature 3,998 athletes between the ages of 15 and 18 who will compete across 32 sports.

This will be the first Games where there will be a level number of male and female competitors – 1,999 of each.

Belarus won four gold and three silver medals at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in the Chinese city of Nanjing.

Buenos Aires 2018 will take place between October 6 and 18.