KZBlog

An American expat living in Astana, Kazakhstan

Tag archive for ‘Sports’

  • Team Astana in Trouble

    Despite their roster which includes Lance Armstrong, Contador and Leipheimer, Team Astana has been having financial issues. The team is sponsored by a number of state-owned companies including Air Astana, Kazakh Temir Zholi, KazMunaiGas and Kegoc. It also has a number of domestic and international sponsors including Trek, Nike and KazakhMys. However, Nikolai Proskurin, Vice-President […]

    4/15/09 • (2)

  • Team Astana

    Team Astana

    Denise Gladwell A great shot I found on Red Bubble of Team Astana in the Tour de France in 2007. Wanted to share it with you, and also pique anticipation of Lance Armstrong’s coming to the team soon!

    1/11/09 • (Comments Off on Team Astana)

  • Tourism in Kazakhstan: Almatau

    Tourism in Kazakhstan: Almatau

    Merry Christmas today to any Orthodox readers. We had a lovely Christmas/New Years holiday, spent mostly with family. However we did get away to Almatau, a ski base near Almaty for a few days. It was lovely to be up in the mountains and we had a lot of fun skiing and walking around. I […]

    1/07/09 • (2)

  • Armstrong Will Probably Have to Be Photographed in a Robe and Beanie Now

    It’s official Lance Armstrong did announce that he will be joining Team Astana. He will not be taking a salary or any bonuses so Team Astana got a good deal. Most people agree that Armstrong chose the Kazakhstan team because of his former coach, Johan Bruyneel. And the presence of Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour […]

    9/25/08 • (Comments Off on Armstrong Will Probably Have to Be Photographed in a Robe and Beanie Now)

  • Is Team Astana Going for a Tour de France Win in 2009?

    Now that Team Astana has Alberto Contador, the Tour de France champion, Johan Bruyneel, the former coach of Discovery, and now Dirk Demol also of Discovery, it makes sense that rumours are flying that Lance Armstrong will join the team in 2009. However, all that Lance is saying is that he will return to cycling […]

    9/22/08 • (1)

  • Commentators Are Just Checking Out the Chicks

    In what was likely not an isolated incident, commentators for Russian TV channel Sport, broadcasting over the Internet made some personal comments about Aliya Yussupova, the Kazakh rhythmic gymnast who has a world class record. Apparently these guys thought they were speaking off the record when they said: “Look at this Yussupova. What has she […]

    8/26/08 • (Comments Off on Commentators Are Just Checking Out the Chicks)

  • And Then There Was One

    While Kazakhstan has taken some more medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics since I last blogged, the boxing team upon which many hopes were pinned isn’t performing according to expectations. Of course neither is the US boxing team which went home with one lousy bronze so maybe it’s just a bad moon over China. The […]

    8/23/08 • (Comments Off on And Then There Was One)

  • Olympics Update

    Back to the 2008 Olympic Games and in the couple of days I skipped, Kazakhstan picked up 2 silver and 1 bronze medals. In total Kazakhstan now has: 2 silver in weightlifting and 1 bronze; 2 bronze in wrestling and 1 silver in judo. Just last night, Mariya Grabovetskaya took the bronze in weightlifting, 75+ […]

    8/14/08 • (Comments Off on Olympics Update)

  • Wrestlers Not So Lucky but Boxers Keeping the Dream Alive

    Darkhan Bayakhmetov lost his bronze medal match to Belarussian Mikhail Semenov in Greco-Roman wrestling today. He takes 5th place in the 66kg category. Asset Immanbayev also lost his match to Armenia’s Roman Amoyan in the 55kg category of Greco-Roman wrestling, failing to make it to the quarterfinals. Zulfiya Zabirova was in third place when she […]

    8/13/08 • (Comments Off on Wrestlers Not So Lucky but Boxers Keeping the Dream Alive)

  • Kazakhstan Wins Second Medal

    Kazakhstan Wins Second Medal

    I must have misunderstood something when I wrote that Kazakh wrestler Tenizbayev still had a match to go to win the bronze Nurbykhyt Tenizbayev won Kazakhstan’s second medal in the Beijing Olympics, taking a bronze in Greco-Roman Wrestling, 60 kg category, sharing it with Ruslan Tiumenbaev of Kyrgyzstan. I miswrote that the two would face […]

    8/12/08 • (Comments Off on Kazakhstan Wins Second Medal)