Today, a press conference dedicated to Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov prizes was held at the Qazaqstan Sports Complex. The event was attended by the President of the Athletics Federation of Kazakhstan Olga Rypakova, the Secretary General of the Federation Zhasaral Imandosov, the representative of World Athletics Andy Kay and a number of Kazakhstani and foreign athletes. Tomorrow the competition will begin, which will be the start of the new season and will give athletes the opportunity to earn rating points and get a "pass" to the World Championship.
"We are glad that again we have the opportunity to host the World Indoor Tour Gold series. Last year the organization of competitions recieved high appreciation at the international level. The level of competitveness is very high here, since these meets give rating points. We plan to hold as many championships as possible indoors, especially since the level of our complex and the qualifications of the judges allow us to do this," Olga Rypakova said in her welcoming speech.
As noted by the Kazakh track and field athlete, jumper Nadezhda Dubovitskaya, “it is always more pleasant to participate in competitions that take place at home, because, as the saying goes: "at home even walls help." The same point of view is shared by another member of our team, Olga Safonova. Unfortunately, the winter season will be short for our athletes, since both of them are focused on preparing for the summer, in particular, Nadezhda's priority is the Diamond League and the need to recover from the previous injury season.
Of course, foreign athletes were of particular interest to journalists, in particular, Jamaican athlete Keishan Thompson, who became the silver medalist of the 2024 Olympic Games in the 100 meters. It is also noteworthy that for Keishan Astana Indoor Meet will be the first experience of indoor competitions.
"I do not set any bar for myself, but I really hope to show a good result, I would like to try to do my best," the athlete said.
Andre de Grasse, on the contrary, is happy to visit Kazakhstan again and wants to improve his result in the 60 meters. The athlete, along with his coach, is also focused on the summer season, in particular the World Championships in Tokyo.
"My last start of the season here was cool, now I'm glad to come back and become even better," Nia Ali, the winner of the Olympic silver in 2016, shared her feelings.
The athletes agreed that there is a special atmosphere at the competitions in Kazakhstan, and most importantly, there is always an opportunity to spend time with the fans, which, in fact, they were happy to do after the press conference.
"Hospitality is in the air here and people are always supportive, it's very nice," André de Grasse emphasized.
As the representative of World Athletics Andy Kay noted, the Qazaqstan sports complex is a fantastic facility where Kazakhstan can host championships of the highest level, up to the World Championships.
At the end of the press conference, the athletes were happy to tell journalists about what motivates them – It is not only about sport ambitions and the desire to become better, but, of course, family, children and love for athletics.
