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How Kazakhstan prepares for Asian Winter Games in China

Фото: primeminister.kz

Фото: primeminister.kz 15.01.2025 11:14 94

The progress of preparations for the IX Asian Winter Games was considered at the Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerbol Myrzabasynov made a report, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.

He reported that the IX Asian Winter Games will be held in the cities of Harbin and Yabuli of the People's Republic of China from 7 to 14 February 2025. The programme includes 6 sports: speed skating, biathlon, curling, skiing, ice hockey, ski mountaineering. The general programme of the Games includes 11 disciplines. More than 1 thousand athletes from 32 Asian countries are expected to participate. A total of 64 sets of awards will be played.

"Kazakhstan's national team plans to participate in all six sports in 10 disciplines with the exception of snowboarding. The team has 138 athletes who will compete for 51 sets of medals. Our national team has been in the top 4 at the Asian Winter Games since 1996. At the previous Asian Games in 2017 in Sapporo, Kazakhstan took fourth place in the team standings, winning 32 medals.More than half of our delegation comes from Astana, Almaty and East Kazakhstan region," the Minister reported.

In order to qualitatively prepare for the Games, the national winter sports teams held 137 training camps. Also athletes attended 86 international competitions, where they won 33 medals.

Among the contenders for high sports achievements and have the highest chances:

biathlon: 2023 Winter Universiade medallist Alexander Mukhin (Akmola Oblast) and two-time 2019 Universiade medallist Aset Dyusenov (Almaty Oblast);
cross-country skiing: bronze medallist of the 2023 Summer Universiade Nadezhda Stepashkina (Akmola Region);
in speed skating: winner of the 4 Continents 2023 Nadezhda Morozova (SKO), silver medallist of the 2023 Junior World Cup Altay Zhardembekuly (Astana);
in short track: bronze medallist of the Asian Games and participant of the Olympic Games Abzal Azhgaliev (Astana), silver medallist of the 2024 World Championships Denis Nikisha (Akmola region);
in freestyle - acrobatics the most promising: champion of the European Cup 2023 Sherzod Hashirbaev (Shymkent), bronze medallist of the European Cup 2023 Ayana Zholdas (Shymkent);
in ice hockey, the 2024 Asian Champions are the men's national team.

"We hope that these athletes will contribute to the piggy bank of our country's awards. Head coaches in 10 disciplines are responsible for the preparation of the national teams.These are experienced specialists who will make every effort for the successful performance of athletes," Yerbol Myrzabasynov said.

Flag bearers will be Adil Beketayev - Master of Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan in ice hockey, bronze medallist at the World Junior Championships, winner of the World Youth Championships and Olga Tikhonova - Master of Sport International Class in short track speed skating, bronze medallist at the 2017 Asian Games in the 3,000m relay, as well as the World Universiade.

The design of the outfit was coordinated with the Organising Committee of the Asian Games. International standards were observed and national requirements were taken into account. Natural fabrics with high temperature-regulating properties were used for athletes' comfort. The sports uniforms were made entirely at the expense of sponsorship funds. The set includes 16 items.

The opening ceremony will be held on 7 February at the Harbin Stadium sports facility. The closing ceremony is scheduled for 14 February. Skating and skiing athletes are the first to perform. Hockey and curling athletes are the last to complete their performance.

"Kazakhstan's national winter sports team is ready to participate in the 2025 Asian Winter Games. And to this end, the Ministry together with local executive bodies, republican federations provided all the necessary conditions," the Minister of Sport and Tourism assured.

Yerbol Myrzabasynov also focused on the development of winter sports in Kazakhstan - 13 Winter Olympic sports: speed skating, short track, figure skating, biathlon, curling, cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing (mogul and acrobatics), snowboarding, Nordic combined, ice hockey, ski mountaineering and ski jumping. A total of 139,123 athletes participate in these sports and 1,838 coaches are employed. Special attention is paid to the training of sports reserves in the northern regions of the country, where climatic conditions are more prone to winter sports. In 521 children's and youth schools, 15,511 athletes are trained under the guidance of 747 coaches. In general, there are 1 national, 6 regional and specialised boarding schools and colleges of the Olympic reserve for winter sports, which cover more than 500 children. At the same time, some 400 athletes train in 11 Olympic reserve training centres. More than 1,000 athletes are trained in 12 schools of higher sporting excellence. There are 1,265 athletes on the national teams.

One of the reserve's outstanding achievements in the international arena is the Youth Olympic Games, which took place in 2024 in Gangwon (South Korea), where athletes won a gold medal in ski jumping (Ilya Mizernykh) and two bronze medals (short track and ice hockey).

In total, there are 1,242 sports facilities for winter sports in the country, including 1,108 hockey courts, 102 ski centres, 22 sports palaces with ice arenas, 7 skating stadiums and 3 ski jumps.

Today, there is still a need for indoor sports centres in almost all regions. The development of winter sports in Kazakhstan is being promoted not only at the level of professional achievement, but also at the level of mass participation. Despite a number of problems, such as limited resources for training in some regions and infrastructure, winter sports attract a large number of people and continue to develop, which is confirmed by successes on the international stage and growing interest in these sports among Kazakhstanis.

As the Head of State noted, "the development of mass sports promotes professional sports and strengthens the health of the entire nation’. As a result of the measures taken, there has been an increase in those engaged in physical culture and sports by more than 310,000 people to 8.4 million people, or 41.5% of the country's population, including more than 3 million people in rural areas. In 2024, 4.7 million children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 were involved in physical education and sport, or 80.2 per cent of the total population. More than 25,000 mass sports events of various levels are held annually in the country, involving 1.2 million people, including more than 500,000 people in rural areas. Also particularly popular in recent years are mass runs, marathons, bicycle races and cycle marathons, Ironman, ski festivals, family starts and mass skating, which are held on a regular basis.

"In his Address, the Head of State, paying increased attention to the development of sports, noted the need to update sectoral legislation to enhance the effective sports management system. At the end of last year, the Ministry formed working groups to monitor and analyse the activities of regional directorates, which revealed many systemic problems. At the same time, the Ministry has developed a draft law ‘On introducing amendments and additions on physical culture and sports’, which was approved by the Majilis of the Parliament in the first reading," the Minister reported.

Legislative amendments envisage norms on granting the Ministry competence to determine the policy of financing sports, specifying priority sports, establishing requirements for accreditation of sports federations and delimitation of powers for the development of mass and high-performance sports.

In order to implement the Head of State's instruction, a special commission was set up at the Ministry to coordinate the heads of regional sports departments. On their recommendation, the heads of five regions have been appointed. The process of re-election of presidents of sports federations is underway, as a result 7 heads have been replaced. A clear management vertical will be built at all levels of the sports industry, and it is also planned to introduce key performance indicators of regional akims on the results of their work.

"The implementation of these measures will lead to improved sports results at the national and international levels, increase the proportion of people engaged in physical culture and sports, improve the health of the country's population, increase the transparency of financial flows and optimise resources," Yerbol Myrzabasynov summarised.