Daniyar Yeleussinov Rio de Janeiro Olympics, 2016
Kazakhstan has a great history of boxing and has actually collected gold medals for the sport in every single Olympic Games since it first competed as a country in 1996. In 2016, it was boxer Daniyar Yeleussinov who won a gold medal in the welterweight category (for boxers who weigh around 63-67 kg).
Olga Rypakova London Olympics, 2012
Athlete Olga Rypakova won several competitions in her early career, including gold medals in other championships for the long jump and triple jump, and a silver medal in the World Championships. She even won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games. However, Rypakova didn't win an Olympic gold until 2012, when she jumped 14.98 metres in the triple jump. The gold medal was finally hers.
Dmitriy Balandin Rio de Janeiro Olympics, 2016
Dmitriy Balandin is the first Kazakh athlete to win an Olympic swimming medal of any kind. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he swam the 200-metre breaststroke in 2 minutes 7.46 seconds. This got him the gold medal! Balandin was already a famous athlete, and he held the Kazakh records for swimming 100 metres and 200 metres. However, his win was a surprise for everyone because Balandin did not do well in the earlier qualifying races - in fact, he was the slowest. It seems he was saving up his speed for the real event!
Denis Ten Sochi Olympics, 2014
Denis Ten was born in 1993 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He started skating when he was only five years old. In winter, he could skate at open-air rinks, but in summer he had to use an indoor rink in a shopping mall. Denis was very talented, so it wasn’t long before a coach spotted his potential and offered to train him. By 2007, he had already won several international competitions. At the age of twenty-one, he was able to take part in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and he came third. This was the first ever Olympic medal for Kazakhstan in figure skating. Denis believed he would win a gold Olympic medal one day. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to achieve his dream because he tragically lost his life in 2018.
Read the statements and write Y for Yeleussinov, R for Rypakova, B for Balandin or T for Ten.
1. This athlete had to train at an unusual location.
2. Nobody thought this athlete was going to win at that Olympics.
3. In this athlete's sport, athletes compete against others of around the same weight.
4. This athlete won a different Olympic medal before he/she won the gold.
5. This athlete continued Kazakhstan's tradition of always winning a medal in his/her sport.
6. This athlete was the first to win an Olympic medal for Kazakhstan in his/her sport.
7. Unfortunately, this athlete wasn’t able to achieve his dream.
