From the village to the world podium: Auyl Sport children win gold in Serbia
The world’s largest multi-sport Olympiad for schoolchildren, ISF U-15 Gimnasiada 2025, has ended in Serbia. More than 2,500 young athletes from 55 countries gathered in the picturesque Zlatibor region. Kazakhstan was represented by 22 participants, 12 of whom were winners of the Auyl Sport project, implemented with the support of the Halyk charity foundation of Timur Kulibayev.
Following the gymnasium, the Kazakh team’s collection was replenished with 11 medals. Four of them were won by participants of the Auyl Sport project – the same guys from the villages who recently trained on school sports grounds.
Kazakhstanis showed themselves especially brightly in boxing, where 160 athletes from 19 countries competed for awards. Three representatives of Auyl Sport became absolute champions:
- True Makarov (52 kg),
- Aibek Sadyk (60 kilograms),
- Nurtas Alimbay (57 kilograms).
All three are winners of the 2024 Auyl Sport.
“The Auyl Sport project gives talented children from villages a chance to enter the big arena. This is not just a sports initiative, it is a real social lift. Today’s successes at the gymnasium are the result of systematic and painstaking work that we began last year, launching the Auyl Sport project,” said Halyk Foundation Executive Director Galymbek Zhaksylykov.
In the freestyle wrestling competition, Kalybek Nurkozha from the village of Shaldar in the Turkestan region won a bronze medal – also a prize winner of the Auyl Sport republican tournament.
The chess tournament was held in rapid and blitz formats, with over 100 athletes from 17 countries taking part. The winners of the project, Zhanat Nurym and Oltinay Algapparova, demonstrated a high level of skill and were awarded special prizes from the organizers.
“A gold medal at the gymnasium is a priceless achievement for a boy from a village. It is a sign that I have justified the trust of my parents and my native village. Thanks to the Auyl Sport project and the Halyk foundation – this victory belongs to everyone who supported me!” – Shyngys Makarov shares his emotions.
In addition, for the worthy representation of the country in the international arena, young athletes of the Auyl Sport project were additionally awarded letters of gratitude on behalf of philanthropist Timur Kulibayev and cash prizes:
- gold medal winners received 1 million tenge each,
- bronze medalist – 300 thousand tenge,
- young chess players – 200 thousand tenge each.
The coaches who trained the champions were also recognized and their contributions were duly appreciated with cash rewards.
Auyl Sport, launched in 2024, has become one of the largest republican projects for rural youth. Last year, more than 12 thousand young athletes from 200 localities took part in the qualifying tournaments, and the best 1,300 competed in the finals.
Today, the project includes competitions in boxing, wrestling, karate, basketball, volleyball and chess. Table tennis will be added in 2025.
Timur Kulibayev’s Halyk Foundation continues to implement social projects aimed at supporting low-income groups and developing regions. The foundation has already allocated about 500 million tenge for the development of rural sports.
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