NUR-SULTAN – Kazakh sport climber Rishat Khabibullin has fulfilled the participation standard for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, receiving a quota at the Aug. 11-21 Climbing World Championships in Hachioji, Japan.
Rishat Khaibullin. Photo credit: olympic.kz.
Eighty-three athletes from 39 countries participated in the qualification. The top 20, including Khabibullin, who ranked 14th, were involved in the qualification contest, reported olympic.kz.
Four Japanese athletes made it to the final eight in all-around, meaning Khabibullin is guaranteed to fulfil the qualification standard, since only two athletes from any country may compete in the Games. According to the championships’ results, the seven best athletes will receive 2020 licenses.
In the speed discipline, Khabibullin set a new Kazakh record of 5.863 seconds, which gave him the lead. He ranked 17th and 16th, respectively, in bouldering and lead climbing.
“Seven quotas were played at the World Championship. One could be obtained at the continental championship. There will also be a licensed tournament in December. I was sure that Rishat could get into the top 20 in all-around, who raffled participation in the Olympic Games among themselves… After analysing the composition of those who went on, we realised that Rishat had a chance to meet the standard – there were representatives of only eight countries among the top 20… He scored enough points to get into the top eight and reach the final,” said Kazakh team head coach Saule Yskakova.
In addition to the World Championships, Kazakh athletes will have the chance to fulfil the Olympic standard at the Asian Championships in November in Indonesia.
To date, Kazakh athletes have 11 licenses for Tokyo 2020. In addition to Khabibullin, swimmer Dmitry Balandin; track and field athlete Olga Rypakova; racewalker Georgy Sheiko; professional racing cyclist Yevgeniy Gidich; the men’s classic archery team, whose members Ilfat Abdullin, Denis Gankin, and Sanjar Musaev will also perform in personal competitions, and marathon swimmer Vitaliy Khudyakov have met Olympic standards.
