From July 3 to 5, Kazakhstan will host its national U-20 Athletics Championships, open to athletes born in 2006 or later. The event will take place at the Olympic Training Centre stadium, located about 20 kilometres from Almaty.
A total of 257 athletes are registered — significantly more than the 184 who took part in the Kazakhstan Cup held June 26–28. The junior championships will feature 151 male and 106 female participants.
Athletes from 16 of Kazakhstan’s 20 regions will compete, including all three major cities — Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent. The largest delegations come from Almaty (50), Shymkent (32), East Kazakhstan Region (27), and Karaganda Region (26). No athletes are registered from West Kazakhstan, Zhambyl, Aktobe, or Abai Regions.
Team Sizes from Other Regions:
Almaty Region & Astana – 19 each
Pavlodar Region – 17
Turkistan & Akmola – 11 each
Kostanay – 10
Zhetysu – 8
North Kazakhstan & Kyzylorda – 7 each
Ulytau – 6
Mangystau – 5
Atyrau – 1
Men’s Events Highlights:
Sprint and middle-distance races are the most popular:
100m – 32 athletes
200m – 39
400m – 21
800m – 25
1500m – 19
3000m – 14
5000m – 7
Hurdles:
110m hurdles – 6
400m hurdles – 5
3000m steeplechase – 3
Field events:
Long jump – 16
Triple jump & high jump – 9 each
Pole vault – 5
Shot put – 12
Discus – 11
Javelin – 9
Hammer throw – 6 (Shymkent 3; Almaty, Karaganda, East Kazakhstan – 1 each)
Decathlon – 3
Among the notable names are Ruslan Kurmanaliyev, 19, who won both the 100m and 200m at June’s Youth Games, and Maxim Balabin, who won the pole vault at the recent Kazakhstan Cup with a personal best of 5.10m. Also drawing attention are Shymkent throwers Maxim Sazhnev (16) and Vadim Pesotsky (17), U18 national record holders in discus and shot put.
Women’s Events Highlights:
Most entries are in sprints:
100m – 26 athletes
200m – 27
400m – 15
400m hurdles – 11 (more than twice the men’s entry)
Field events:
Long jump – 13
Pole vault – 2
Discus – 8
Hammer throw & javelin – 7 each
Notable athletes include Antonina Chernyshova (North Kazakhstan), who competed at the recent Asian Championships in Gumi in the 100m hurdles. In pole vault, the favourite is Anna Cherkashina from Almaty, Kazakhstan’s record-holder in the U18, U20, and U23 age groups. In distance running, Saniya Kudaybergen from Zhetysu Region will be one to watch — she recently won both the 5000m and 10000m at the Youth Games.
In the photo: Ruslan Kurmanaliyev (No. 46) from Astana, winner of the recent VI Youth Games, is a favourite in the 100m and 200m at the upcoming junior championships.
