Abzal Azhgaliyev
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 30 June 1992 Oral, Kazakhstan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb; 11 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Kazakhstan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Short track speed skating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Madygali Karsybekov, Zhaslan Mukhambetkaliyev[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Abzal Azhgaliyev (born 30 June 1992) is a Kazakh male short-track speed skater.[1] He has competed in three Winter Olympic Games and is the first short-track skater from Kazakhstan to win a World Cup event.[2][3] Holding eight World Cup podiums, he is the most decorated Kazakh skater.[2]
Early life
[edit]Azhgaliyev was born in 1992 in Uralsk, West Kazakhstan.[4] He started skating at age nine when a recruiter came to his school and encouraged boys to try the sport.[5][2] At age eleven he tried short track and loved the speed of it.[5] He left secondary school and moved to a special school where he could focus on his training.[6] He graduated from the Kazakh Academy of Sport and Tourism with a degree in sports education.[2][6]
Career
[edit]His coaches are Madygali Karsybekov, Zhasulan Mukhambetkaliev, and Pyotr Gamidov.[2][6]
Azhgaliyev's first international competition was in Moscow in 2006. It hooked him on the sport.[5]
In 2007, Azhgaliyev was designated Master of Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan.[2][7]
In 2011, Azhgaliyev was on the relay team that won the bronze medal in the Asian Games.[7]
Azhgaliyev was the first Kazakh skater to win a World Cup event when he medaled in the 500m in 2016 in Salt Lake City, UT, United States. His time was 40.373 seconds.[7][8] He received the title of Master of Sports of International Class of the Republic of Kazakhstan.[7]
With state funding, Azhgaliyev and the other members of the national relay team trained in the Netherlands.[9] However, he professed to prefer training in Kazakhstan, instead. He prefers to be with family.[9] Now he trains in Nur-Sultan, where new facilities have been constructed.[5] Russian skaters Semen Elistratov and Dmitry Migunov train in Nur-Sultan with the Kazakh team.[5]
He has skated three times in the Winter Olympics.
His first winter games were in Sochi, Russia, in 2014, where he skated in the Men's 5000 Meters Relay.[2] The team took fifth place.[4]
He was the flagbearer in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea, where he was also the captain of the Kazakh National Olympic Team.[4] He competed in the Men's 5000 Meters Relay.[2]
In 2022, Azhgaliyev was once again the flagbearer for Kazakhstan.[2] In Beijing, China, he competed in the 500m Men's event, as well as the Mixed Team Relay team with Adil Galiakhmetov, Denis Nikisha, Yana Khan, and Olga Tikhonova.[10][2] Their relay team placed fifth.[2]
His athletic heroes include Russia's Viktor An, Canadian Charles Hamelin, and China's Wang Meng.[2]
Personal life
[edit]He enjoys playing video games and watching soccer. His favorite teams are FC Akzhayik Uralsk and FC Barcelona. Before big races, he likes to have dinner with friends and family.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Abzal Azhgaliyev". sochi2014.com. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Abzal AZHGALIYEV". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ "Abzal Azhgaliyev". www.isu.html.infostradasports.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-14. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ a b c INFORM.KZ (2018-01-09). "Abzal Azhgaliyev to be Kazakhstan flag bearer at PyeongChang 2018 Olympics". Казинформ. Archived from the original on 2024-05-03. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ a b c d e "Azhgaliyev targets Kazakh glory in Beijing - International Skating Union". isu.org. Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ a b c "Что известно о знаменосце сборной Казахстана на зимней Олимпиаде-2018". ztb.kz. Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ a b c d "Абзал Ажгалиев". Қазақстанның жаңа есімдері (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ "Абзал Ажгалиев с рекордом Казахстана стал вторым на этапе Кубка мира по шорт-треку". Olympic.kz. Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ a b Меделбек, Руслан (23 February 2018). "Қазақ шорт-трекшілері жүлдеге ілінбеді". Азаттық радиосы (in Kazakh). Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
- ^ "Short Track Speed Skating - Team Kazakhstan". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 2022-02-12. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
External links
[edit]- Abzal Azhgaliyev at the International Skating Union
- Abzal Azhgaliyev at Olympics.com
- Abzal Azhgaliyev at Olympedia (archive)
- Abzal Azhgaliyev at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics (archived)
- 1992 births
- Living people
- Kazakhstani male short-track speed skaters
- Olympic short-track speed skaters for Kazakhstan
- Short-track speed skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics
- Short-track speed skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics
- Short-track speed skaters at the 2022 Winter Olympics
- Asian Games medalists in short-track speed skating
- Asian Games bronze medalists for Kazakhstan
- Short-track speed skaters at the 2011 Asian Winter Games
- Medalists at the 2011 Asian Winter Games
- Winter World University Games medalists in short-track speed skating
- FISU World University Games silver medalists for Kazakhstan
- FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Kazakhstan
- Competitors at the 2017 Winter Universiade
- People from Oral, Kazakhstan
- 21st-century Kazakhstani sportsmen