Sunday, December 13, 2009

Sports


Cultivated a strong interest in sports, physical education and extracurricular activities. Kazakhstan has achieved some success in international competitions in weightlifting, ice hockey, and boxing. Kazakhstan won 8 medals in the 2004 Summer Olympics - the largest tally for any nation in Western Asia.
Football (Soccer) is also popular, with the Kazakhstan Super League being the top-level competition for the sport in the country.
A lot of professional cyclists that compete on the European circuit come from Kazakhstan. Most notable is Alexander Vinokourov whose achievements include 2 Paris-Nice's and 3rd place in the 2003 Tour de France and the Amstel Gold Race. Alexander Vinokourov leads the Astana Team which is supported by a coalition of Kazakh companies. This team is registered on the UCI Pro Tour and competes in the major races including the Tour de France.
Rugby union also has a wide following in Kazakhstan, with over 10,000 fans consistently turning up to watch the national team play. Recent big wins over Sri Lanka and Arabian Gulf have given the Kazakhstan side reason to believe that they could be contenders to qualify for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Cathy

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