On April 16, the second day of the 6th Youth Asian Athletics Championship in Dammam (Saudi Arabia), Kazakhstan won its first three medals. However, when looking at our neighbours — the athletes from Uzbekistan — it’s clear they’re performing significantly more successfully.
Two of the three medals for Team Kazakhstan came from the girls’ heptathlon. The gold went to Polina Kuzubova from Shymkent, while Azylzat Kydyrbay from the Kyzylorda region claimed bronze. The third medal, also a bronze, was earned by pole vaulter Dmitriy Shkerdin from Almaty.
In the 5000m race walk, Yegizbay Sherkhan from Shymkent finished sixth with a time of 22:47.83 — nearly two and a half minutes behind the winner. In the long jump, Milena Mertz from Almaty placed fifth with a result of 5.27 metres, falling short of first place by nearly a full metre — 99 centimetres. Two athletes from Shymkent competed in the discus throw: Vadim Pisotsky placed 11th with a mark of 47.37 metres, while Maksim Sazhnev came 12th with 46.10 metres.
In the 2000m steeplechase, Ramazan Alibek from Shymkent finished seventh in 6:45.06, and Miraz Zhaksylyk from the Kyzylorda region came ninth in 6:52.48. Both athletes were around 30 seconds slower than their personal bests.
In the 1500m, Ramazan Shaiev from the Zhambyl region narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth in 4:00.10 — just 0.23 seconds behind the third-place runner from Sri Lanka. In the sprint events, neither Beibarys Batyruly from Astana nor Angelina Shrubyanyets from Almaty managed to reach the top eight in the 100m finals.
Uzbek athletes, meanwhile, had a more successful day on April 16, taking home one gold and three silver medals. In the girls’ 2000m steeplechase, they claimed the top two spots. Safarbona Nisratilloeva won gold in 6:44.99, followed by Nasimakhon Mamirova in 6:55.20. Sofia Nikolaeva secured silver in the heptathlon, and Shohjahon Khayrullaev achieved the same result in the boys’ 2000m steeplechase with a time of 6:14.31.
It’s also worth noting that Kazakhstan didn’t win any medals on the first day of competition, while their Uzbek rivals earned two bronze medals.
In the photo: Kazakhstan’s Yegizbay Sherkhan (far left) placed sixth in the race walk. Photo: asianathletics.com
