Kaisarova and Mikhina win the Olga Rypakova Prizes Tournament
Kaisarova and Mikhina win the Olga Rypakova Prizes Tournament The First-Ever International Athletics Tournament in EKR The first international athletics tournament in the history of the East Kazakhstan Region was marked by a fierce confrontation between Kazakhstani and international athletes. Competitors from Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Belarus provided more than worthy competition for the domestic athletes. Unfortunately, the number of participants in each discipline was not very high. However, looking at things objectively, a debut tournament could not have been expected to be massive. Now, other countries will surely hear the feedback from our guests, and trust in our event will significantly grow. Three Sets of Three for the Hosts Curiously, Ust-Kamenogorsk athletes were unable to secure a victory on their home arena, settling for bronze medals instead. Erbol Kalenov finished third in the pole vault with a result of 4 meters. To be fair, missing the podium in this discipline was impossible, as only three athletes competed. Erbol tried his best to compete with the more experienced Kazakhstanis, Grigoryev and Filippov, but his result was not even his season’s best—Kalenov lost 20 cm compared to his own performance at the EKR Championship a week ago. Varvara Nazarova also took third place in the shot put. Our famous javelin thrower—despite her young age—competed largely as part of her preparation for the summer season. She managed to surpass the 11m mark, which secured her a place among the medalists. Performances by representatives of other EKR cities were more successful. Elina Mikhina from Ridder became a double champion of the tournament, winning the 400m race with a clear lead and later securing gold as part of the Kazakhstan national team in the 4x400m relay. No one else but Mikhina can boast two victories at the tournament for the prizes of Olympic Champion Olga Rypakova! Regina Kaisarova from Semey (often referred to by her maiden name, Sarsekova, by specialists and fans) reached the podium twice. In the high jump, she was unmatched and became the only athlete in the sector to successfully clear 180 cm. Second place went to another Semey native, Nadezhda Dubovitskaya, who cleared 175 cm for the second time in a week but again failed to conquer the 180 cm bar. As the athlete admitted herself, the issues were more psychological than physical. Olga Khizhnyakova took a silver medal in the shot put back to her hometown of Semey. One of her attempts flew past the 12m mark, guaranteeing her the second step on the podium. Another award for the EKR team came from Maksim Mzelskiy of Ridder in the 800m run. In the final sprint, he snatched second place from the more experienced Sergey Tulapin, beating him by just 0.06 seconds! In total, EKR athletes earned three first-place, three second-place, and three third-place finishes. One Hundredth Away from the Record It was right here and now that the long-standing Kazakhstan record in the 60m dash, set by Svetlana Bodritskaya back in 1997, could have finally fallen. Unfortunately, this record will hold—at least until the final days of January. The magnificent Victoria Zyabkina from Almaty missed the record by just 0.01 seconds! And that was only in the preliminary heat! In the final, the result was slower by another “hundredth,” and the record stood firm. When our correspondent asked immediately after the finish if she felt a record had been set, Zyabkina confidently replied “no,” even before knowing her official time. We hope that at the National Championships, Victoria will finally manage a virtual victory over Bodritskaya, as heroes must eventually change over time. Athletes didn’t even come close to touching any other records. However, this event was merely the opening of the winter season, and the competitors have not yet reached their peak form. “Unmodest” Guests The tournament showed that the international athletes who arrived in Ust-Kamenogorsk came for more than just admiring the beauty of the arena. The most successful were the Ukrainians, who won three major prizes, including one in the triple jump. This event, so iconic for us, became the domain of the European Junior Championships bronze medalist Tetyana Ptashkina, who also set a new competition record of 13.6 m. Despite this, the athlete herself was dissatisfied with the result, citing difficult acclimatization. In the men’s triple jump, the representative of Ukraine, Viktor Yastrebov, also took the lead, proving to be head and shoulders above all the Kazakhstani competitors, who performed rather poorly. Meanwhile, Svitlana Marusenko gave a true masterclass to our shot putters, becoming the first athlete to receive a standing ovation from the stands—and certainly not the last. Notably, Marusenko was the first foreign athlete to secure a victory in an official start here, and with an arena record to boot. Svitlana has every reason to be proud, though it must be disappointing that she fell just 9 cm short of the Ukrainian Master of Sport standard! The victory of Azerbaijani Hakim Ibragimov in the 800m run was equally impressive. According to the athlete himself, both representatives of his country set personal bests, and the victory Hakim snatched in a very tough competition against the Kazakhstani runners was a worthy reward for his efforts. Another guest who didn’t leave Ust-Kamenogorsk empty-handed was the Uzbekistan 100m champion Diana Agliulina. As part of the “Friendship of Nations” team in the 4x400m relay, she secured third place. A Festival of Athletics The atmosphere that filled the O. Rypakova Athletics Arena that day could easily be compared to the All-Star games in hockey and other sports. No mandatory results were demanded from anyone; perhaps only Alexandra Krivitskaya shed a few tears, unable to realize her full potential in the high jump. Otherwise, there was a prevailing sense of celebration. This was evident in the smile of Varvara Nazarova, who is usually in a strictly competitive mood in the throwing sector; in the cheerful chatter of the shot putters; and in the way Sergey Tulapin made funny faces upon noticing he was featured on the arena’s big screen.