ASTANA – The qualification tournaments for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris have recently concluded. Eighty athletes will represent Kazakhstan in 25 sports, including boxing, judo, artistic gymnastics, kayaking and canoeing, shooting, fencing, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Honored Master of Sports of Kazakhstan, two-time Olympic silver medalist Bolat Zhumadilov. Photo credit: olympic.kz
The Kazakh national team is preparing to participate in the Summer Olympics for the eighth time, while some of the athletes will be participating for the first time.
Kazakhstan’s first Olympic Games as an independent nation were in Atlanta in 1996. The team won 11 medals, with three athletes becoming Olympic champions. Vasily Zhirov won gold in boxing in the 81-kilogram weight category and received the Val Barker Trophy for the best boxer of the Olympics. Yuriy Melnichenko secured gold in Greco-Roman wrestling (57 kilograms), and Alexander Parygin won gold in modern pentathlon.
Silver medals were won by Bolat Zhumadilov in boxing (up to 51 kilograms), Sergey Belyayev in rifle shooting (prone and three positions), and Anatoly Khrapaty in weightlifting. Bronze medals went to boxers Bulat Niyazymbetov (up to 63.5 kilograms) and Yermakhan Ibraimov, Vladimir Vokhmyanin in rapid-fire pistol shooting (25 meters), and Maulen Mamyrov in freestyle wrestling.
Golden moments in boxing and athletics
At the Sydney 2000 Olympics, the Kazakhstan national team returned with seven medals—three gold and four silver. Bekzat Sattarkhanov became the first Olympic champion among Kazakh boxers in the 57-kilogram category. Yermakhan Ibraimov won gold in the 71-kilogram boxing category, and Olga Shishigina secured the third gold in the 100-meter hurdles.
Boxers Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov and Bolat Zhumadilov, freestyle wrestler Islam Bayramukov, and cyclist Alexandr Vinokurov earned silver medals.
Bakhtiyar Artayev earned the only gold medal in the 69-kilogram boxing category. Photo credit: REUTERS
During the 2004 Athens Olympics, 119 Kazakh athletes competed in 17 sports. Bakhtiyar Artayev earned the only gold medal in the 69-kilogram boxing category. He also received the Val Barker Trophy, becoming the second Kazakh to win this award.
Silver medals were claimed by Gennady Golovkin in boxing, Georgy Tsurtsumia in Greco-Roman wrestling, Gennady Laliyev in freestyle wrestling, and Sergey Filimonov in weightlifting. Bronze medals went to Dmitry Karpov in athletics, Mkhitar Manukyan in Greco-Roman wrestling, and Serik Eleuov in boxing.
Challenging campaigns
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kazakhstan had champions in boxing and weightlifting, but one victory was revoked due to doping. A boxer, Bakhtiyar Sarsekbayev, won gold in the 69-kilogram weight category.
Silver medals were secured by Askhat Zhitkeyev in judo (up to 100 kilograms), Olga Rypakova in triple jump, and Nurbakyt Tenizbayev in Greco-Roman wrestling (up to 60 kilograms).
Olga Rypakova, an Olympic champion in London (2012), silver medalist in Beijing (2008), and bronze medalist in Rio de Janeiro (2016) in triple jump. Photo credit: olympic.kz
Bronze medals went to Greco-Roman wrestler Elena Shalygina (up to 63 kilograms), freestyle wrestler Marid Mutalimov (up to 120 kilograms), boxer Erkebulan Shynaliyev (up to 81 kilograms), and taekwondo athlete Arman Chilmanov (plus 80 kilograms).
At the 2012 London Olympics, Kazakh athletes won seven gold medals, but four weightlifters were later stripped of their medals due to doping.
Notable victories included cyclist Alexandr Vinokurov, track and field athlete Olga Rypakova, and boxer Serik Sapiyev, who retained their titles. Sapiyev also won the Val Barker Trophy.
Alexander Vinokurov during the Summer Olympic Games. London, July 28, 2012. Photo credit: REUTERS
The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro marked the most successful outing for the Kazakh team, setting a record with 17 medals. However, the Tokyo Olympics were a stark contrast, representing one of the least successful campaigns in Kazakh Olympic history. The team failed to secure a gold or silver medal, finishing in 83rd place overall with eight bronze medals.
Bronze medals were claimed by Yeldos Smetov (judo), Igor Son, Zulfiya Chinshanlo (weightlifting), Saken Bibossinov, Kamshybek Kunkabayev (boxing), Nurislam Sanaev (freestyle wrestling), and Darkhan Asadilov and Sofya Berultseva (karate).
The 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be held from July 26 to Aug. 11, will feature 32 sports and 329 sets of awards.
The article was originally published in Kazinform.
