Sport

Sport in Our Life Sport is most popular among the young, without forgetting the old. Quite a number of people participate in morning cardiovascular exercise such as jogging. Others train themselves in various groups and take part in competitions. Still others like sports but only by watching while others listen to the news concerning them. Reading interesting stories about sportsmen is a preference for many people. However, physical exercises is generally helpful in making our physique strong and improving our mental capabilities.

Sport in Kazakhstan People in the whole world like sport. Sports improves health, keeps a good form. Finally, it is an excellent pastime. International matches and tournaments unite nations; they play an important role in establishing of good relations between countries. In Kazakhstan people always paid much attention to sports. Since 1991 the country has been participating in international sports contests as a sovereign state. For the development of the Olympic movement the National Olympic committee was founded in the Republic.

football I think every Kazakh citizen would agree that the most popular sport in our country is soccer (we call it football though). I assume, the other reason, besides its fun, is that soccer requires lesser equipment than any other sports. Anyways, Kazakhstan has 14 inner soccer teams which compete for the UEFA Champions League. It is held every year between the spring-fall season. Nowadays, the winning team is Karagandas FC Shakhter Karagandy. Besides, Kazakhstan has national soccer team, which represents our country on international level. In 2002, Kazakhstan was adopted in the UEFA as an European country participant (West Kazakhstan (Atyrau, Aktobe and part of Mangistau regions) belong to Europe geographically).

boxing Boxing is the second most popular sport in Kazakhstan. Our Boxing Federation was formed in 1959 and has achieved a lot since then. Here are the achievements from the Olympic Games: 2000 – At the Sydney Olympics, Kazakhstan won 2 gold and 2 silver 2012 – At the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London Serik Sapiev won the welterweight gold medal and became the third Kazakh boxer awarded Val Barker Cup. Adilbek Niyazymbetov won a silver award in light heavyweight, and Ivan Dychko bronze in super heavyweight. Held on for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, in womens boxing tournament Marina Volnova won the bronze medal in middleweight. Nowadays, the boxing team Astana Arlans is on top in the World Series of Boxing. They won the III World Series of 2013 Boxing season. Of course, I must mention Gennadiy Golovkin: one of Kazakhstans favorites, who is popular all over the world. Gennadiy is a 31 year-old WBA and IBO middleweight champion since In this years championship, he won all 27 fights in the professional ring, 24 of them ending by KO.

HOCKEY The third favorite sport in Kazakhstan is hockey. Team Torpedo from Ust-Kamenogorsk (East Kazakhstan) is the best hockey team in the country. Evgeny Paladyev from Torpedo is a three-time world champion, who played seven years for the Moscow Spartak team. The Kazakhstan national hockey team (composed of Torpedo players), shared 5-8 places with Team USA, Sweden and Belarus at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano. In 2002 Kazakhstans Maxim Kuznetsov of the NHLs Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. Current goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes Anton Khudobin is from Kazakhstan.

cycling The fourth most liked sport is cycling. The main engine of popularity for cycling in Kazakhstan are the victories of the outstanding Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov in prestigious Pro Tour races and, of course, his gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. Also, Alexey Lutsenkos recent victory in the World Cup 2012 inspires Kazakh people to be involved in cycling.