World-class sport
Kazakhstan is - as so many post-Soviet countries - a cradle of many talented sportsmen and -women. Contrary to the other Central Asian nations, this tradition does not seem to have abated with independence - so even today Kazakhstan sends big delegations to Olympic games and usually does better than e.g. neighbouring Uzbekistan.
Now, two pieces of sport news for some lighter reading this weekend: First, apparently Kazakhstan is a world-class Futsal nation, competing right now for a slot in the European Championship in Portugal (after having smashed Georgia 4:1, the chances look pretty good).
Completely unaware of the wide appeal of Futsal, I was also quite amazed to read this long report on the sport on Kazinform, especially that there are foreign legionaries playing in Kazakhstan’s national league:
But when Kazakhstan take on Georgia, hosts Malta and Cyprus in EURO preliminary round Group C from tomorrow until Sunday, they be without the foreign players that have aided their club in international competition, notably Kairat’s talented Brazilians.
The other piece of news is about professional cycling, and the presentation of the new Team Astana two days ago. The German article begins with: ‘Welcome to a place, where cycling is still really much alive!’. The 29-men strong team will be among the three biggest and most well-off ones to compete for this year’s great tours, including of course the Tour de France.
Jetting 29 cyclists over to Astana for a mere 24 hours requires some potent donors. Sponsors for the team around Alexander Vinokurov (who won the Spain Tour and got in 4th at the Tour de France some years ago) were found mainly through the lobbying of ex-PM Daniyal Akhmetov, a friend of Vinokurov and himself passionate cyclist. They include an oil company, a mining corporation, and five other Kazakh companies.
Akhmetov, who became Minister of Defence after the recent government reshuffle, invited the 11 Kazakhs, four Swiss, and 11 nationals from other countries into his ministry and gave each one of them a Kazakh military jacket and an army hat. More than 1,000 people attended the presentation in the Pyramid of Peace, and according to the article, people expect Vinokurov to at least win the Tour de France this year. Good luck!
on January 22nd, 2007 at 12:45 pm
I firts heard of Kazakh cyclists in the Tour de France and wondered then, just where do these cyclists practice?
I have just spent 3 years in Atyrau and would have thought that the potholes in the roads and the mostly poor genereral level of driving ability would mean that you would have to be insane to practice on the public roads!
on January 22nd, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Well, you can see the occasional cyclist on Almaty’s roads. Most of the pros, however, train in Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe.
But you’re right, cycling in Kazakhstan can be suicidal, a friend of mine survived a big crash because he was wearing a helmet.
on January 22nd, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Don’t forget cybersports! As my buddy Mike is fond of reminding me every single year, Kazakhstan’s team always place well, and are right now in the Top 20 overall. Last year, they came in second in the world Counter-Strike:Source tournament, losing only to the US (which, along with South Korea, always wins those things anyway).