Russia's Artem Osipenko won gold in the men's over-100 kilograms contest at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan ©Getty Images

Seven-times world sambo champion Artem Osipenko will be the flag bearer for the Russian team at the Opening Ceremony of the European Games in Minsk.

Osipenko has been a dominant force in Sambo and will lead his nation's athletes into the Dinamo Stadium on June 21.

The Russia sambist is the current world champion in the men's over-100 kilograms category.

He also won the gold medal at the 2018 European Sambo Championships in Athens, where he defeated Yurk Rybak of Belarus with an emphatic 9-0 victory to claim victory.

Osipenko also won gold in the men's over-100kg contest at the inaugural European Games in Baku four years ago. 

Artem Osipenko will be Russia's flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of Minsk 2019 ©Getty Images
Artem Osipenko will be Russia's flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony of Minsk 2019 ©Getty Images

In Minsk, he will be targeting further glory, but with Rybak competing in front of a home crowd, he will be aiming to give a better account of himself.

A total of 18 categories will be contested - nine for men and nine for women - with 144 sambists taking part in the tournament.

Tickets for the preliminary rounds, to begin on June 22 at the Minsk Sports Palace, have already sold out.

The European Games run from June 21 to 30 with 199 medal events in 15 sports and 21 disciplines.