NUR-SULTAN – Kazakhstan’s prominent track and field athlete and London Olympic champion Olga Rypakova claimed gold in the triple jump at the seventh International Military Sports Council (CISM) World Games Oct. 18-27 in Wuhan, China.
Olga Rypakova during the games. Photo credit: Olga Rypakova’s Instagram account.
Rypakova jumped 14.16 metres. The silver medal went to Ottavia Chestonaro of Italy (13.78 metres) and bronze to Ana José Tima of the Dominican Republic (13.54 metres).
Originally a heptathlete, Rypakova began competing in the triple jump in 2007 with great success.
“Gold is ours! The win in the games is, too. This medal is really ours and the victory belongs to all of us. Because without my fans, without support and faith, it would be much more difficult for me. It becomes easier not to give up when you know that the country believes in you. I share this success with each of you and once again I say thank you from the bottom of my heart,” she wrote on her Instagram account.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev offered his congratulations.
“Our famous athlete Olga Rypakova won a gold medal in the strong competition. Olga’s brilliant sports career and her big triumphs can only motivate and inspire. Only forward!” he posted on his Twitter account.
Rypakova thanked Tokayev for his praise.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the head of state for his congratulations. The appreciation of my success from the President of Kazakhstan means a lot. It motivates me to be even stronger, faster and more successful, because I represent our big country at all competitions,” she said.
Organised in 1995, the CISM World Games are held every four years. China hosted the games for the first time with President Xi Jinping attending the opening ceremony.
Nearly 8,000 athletes from 109 nations competed across 32 sports, claiming 1,021 medals.
The Kazakh team secured four gold, three silver and five bronze medals, placing the country 12th in the final medal ranking. Ruslan Zhapparov won gold in taekwondo in the 87-kilogram division.
The two additional golds came in boxing. 2018 Incheon Asian Games silver medallist Aslanbek Shymbergenov, 26, won in the 69-kilogram weight division and World Series of Boxing (WSB) team champion Temirtas Zhussupov in the 49-kilogram division.
“I am so happy to win the gold again,” said Shymbergenov, reported Xinhua news agency.
“I fought a very technical fight, just as my coach had asked me to do. My opponent had a lot of power, but I was able to score with straight punching combinations,” he added.
The host nation was first in the final medal ranking winning 239 medals (133 gold, 64 silver, and 42 bronze), followed by Russia (161) and Brazil (88).
