On February 14-15, the XI International Athletics Tournament for the prizes of Olympic Champion Olga Rypakova was held in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan. More than 150 athletes from 12 countries participated, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia, India, Greece, Turkiye, Sri Lanka, and Lithuania.
This year’s opening ceremony of the XI International Athletics Tournament in Ust-Kamenogorsk featured a new format. In addition to the dance performances, a drum performance was added, creating a unique atmosphere, warmly received by the audience.
The competition saw top athletes, including national team leaders, international tournament medalists, Asian champions, national record holders, and promising junior athletes.
A special highlight of the tournament was the new event — the 4×200-meter mixed relay (2 women + 2 men), which garnered particular attention from the audience.
Tajik athletes won two bronze medals. In the women’s 800-meter race, Kristina Pronzhenko placed third with a time of 2:22.73.
In the men’s 3000-meter race, Zuhurshoh Najmiddin also earned third place with a time of 9:22.8.
The tournament, held in honor of Olga Rypakova, is a key event in the international athletics calendar, offering athletes a chance to meet the qualifying standards for the World Championships, while also promoting the development of young athletes and strengthening international sports cooperation.
Olga Rypakova (born November 30, 1984) is a former Kazakhstani track and field athlete. Originally a heptathlete, she switched to focus on the long jump and began to compete in the triple jump after 2007. Her first successes came in the combined events at Asian competitions – she won the women's pentathlon at the 2005 Asian Indoor Games and took the heptathlon gold at the 2006 Asian Games the following year.
She competed in both jumping events at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished fourth in the triple jump with an Asian record of 15.11 meters. Rypakova has represented Kazakhstan at the 2007 and 2009 World Championships in Athletics. She reached the world podium for the first time at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, where she took gold with an Asian indoor record jump of 15.14 m. She won the gold medal in triple jump at the 2012 London Olympics.[1]
In February 2023, Rypakova announced the end of her professional sports career.[2]
