Actualities - Kazakhstan NOC

Mr. Andrey Kryukov, NOC Kazakhstan Secretary General met with Mr. Andrea Rinaldi, FIS Aerials Race Director. Parties discussed the organization of the upcoming 2021 Freestyle World Championships in Almaty and preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Mr. Andrey Kryukov: "Kazakhstan for the first time will host the Moguls and Aerials World Championships. This is important moment for our country and our team. First of all, it is a Qualifying event and the last World Championships before Beijing 2022 Olympics. Home track should help our athletes to strengthen their positions in the world rankings, and to get the Olympic qualifications. Secondly, hosting the World Championships within the such shortest time will strengthen the position of the National Ski Association. Currently, only a few countries can provide well-prepared competitions in a high level, our National Association confirms its readiness. Therefore, hosting these competitions will also provide an objective approach to the judging of our athletes, improve the skills of our officials and technical staff.

NOC Kazakhstan, together with the National Sports federations, constantly working on establishment of close cooperation with IFs. This allows us to increase our representation in international level.

Comprehensively, all these joint efforts will boost us to protect the interests of domestic sports at the international level and increase the image of Kazakhstan. Moreover, it should be noted that these disciplines are very popular in North America, Australia, and now in Asia. International experts consider China and Japan as countries with the highest potential for the development of these sports in the very near future. But we are already the leaders of the region, as Kazakhstan athletes are displacing recognized leaders from the podium. Even now we can see how the World Championship stages have had a positive impact for our Freestyle Skiers: teams are growing, more talented youth are appearing, and their results are improving.

By the way, Almaty, has already become an acknowledged center of Winter Sports and is clearly marked on the world sports arena. Almaty’s tracks are among the traditional ones in the Annual FIS Calendar.

Today, some Summer and Winter IFs turn to us by offering to host competitions of the elite level, as Kazakhstan begun to set high standards for hosting World Championships and is considered as one of the most desirable hosts.

Our modern sports facilities, the full support from Government and high competency of many NFs have allowed us to achieve such worldwide recognition.

The investments made in sports over the past years are already working steadily for the image of Kazakhstan and its legacy, and our athletes at all levels are among the world leaders.

The importance of good and qualitative TV broadcasts also should be highlighted. Because the image of our country depends on proficient and proper broadcasting. Due to the pandemic, the new TV images are like a breath of air for sports fans around the world. Today, the best sport TV channels are waiting in line for new content, and even more for Live broadcasts of winter sports. Experts predict a very wide coverage, as athletes from all continents will be represented. For 6 days, the whole world will be watching Live Almaty mountains and enjoy high-quality sport show surrounded by beautiful nature.

In conclusion, I would like to express my personal hope for the successful performance of our teams and our leaders Ms. Yulia Galysheva, Mr. Dmitry Reichard, Ms. Zhanbota Aldabergenova, as well as other young talents who will have the opportunity to defend the honor of the country at the home land".

Preparation of Kazakhstan National Team for the Beijing 2022, as well as the possibility of involving the world leading experts in the training of teams as consultants were also discussed at the meeting.

Mr. Rinaldi agreed that such events have a positive impact on the development of the sport and praised the level of Kazakhstan’s athletes. In addition, Mr. Rinaldi noted that he had already inspected the track at "Shymbulak" and currently working closely with the Organizing Committee of the upcoming events.

Mr. Andrea Rinaldi:

"On behalf of the FIS, I would like to express my gratitude to the Government of Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Culture and Sports and the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan for their enthusiasm and readiness to host the World Championships in such a short notice. Today, it can be stated that the Government of Kazakhstan highly aware of the pandemic, which still cannot be provided in many countries, even in developed ones. Here we can see excellent discipline and high responsibility, which allows you to overcome the pandemic in a much more comfortable environment than in many other countries. All this indicates the high competence and determination of your Government authorities, which will ultimately ensure the safety of the competition. I would like to note that safety is the main criteria when choosing the host country of the competition. I am confident that experience of the National Federation is enough to ensure the highest level of the FIS World Championships 2021. It is good to see that the sports legacy of the Almaty 2022 Olympic bid is being developed and actively used, making the city a World center for Winter Sports".

Safety of the participants was one of the main issues. According to Mr. Andrey Kryukov, in 2020 the NOC Kazakhstan, together with the Ministry of Culture and Sports, developed a special Regulation for conducting of sports and training procedures for National Teams under quarantine conditions, which allowed to ensure the safety of all athletes

and staff. Guided by these regulations, more than 40 national-level competitions have been successfully held from July 2020 to the present day. At all championships, new regulations were introduced, which made it possible to clearly ensure the safety and protection from infection of all groups of athletes involved in the organization of tournaments. These measures will be fully integrated into the official Regulations of FIS for the organization of the World Championships 2021. Ensuring the safety and health of the participants will be the main goal for the organizers.

The Moguls and Aerials World Championships 2021 will be held from March 8 to 11 at the Shymbulak Ski Resort in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Almaty was already scheduled to host the World Cup Finals for Aerials and Moguls on March 13-14, 2021.

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