Astana, Kazakhstan, September 3, 2025: Two female Kazakh Olympians, track and field athlete Olga Rypakova and freestyle aerials athlete Zhanbota Aldabergenova, are living proof of the success of Olympic Solidarity scholarships – which are being presented at the ongoing 6th OCA/OS Athletes Forum in Astana.
IOC Olympic Solidarity Associate Director Olivier Niamkey and IOC Olympic Solidarity Continental Manager Edward Kensington are in Astana to present the Olympic Solidarity programmes which help National Olympic Committees support their athletes, among other initiatives.
The OS duo met with the fruits of what they had sowed in Kazakhstan with Rypakova and Aldabergenova, who both represented their country at the Summer and Winter Olympics, respectively. Both athletes were grateful to Olympic Solidarity scholarships helping them in illustrious careers.
“I first learned about the Olympic Solidarity scholarship from the Kazakhstan NOC. The NOC wrote to our national athletics federation about this programme and the federation submitted my name. I got a scholarship and it motivated me more. The grant helped with my medical bills and gave me a lot of stability,” explained Rypakova, originally a heptathlete who switched to the triple jump.
Rypakova, 40, retired from competition in 2023. She represented Kazakhstan at three Olympic Games: 2008 Beijing winning a silver medal, 2012 London winning a gold medal, and 2016 Rio winning a bronze medal. She also won four Asian Games gold medals, from 2006 to 2018. She is now the Chair of the Athletes Committee of the Kazakhstan NOC.
“My father was an athletics coach and as a child I used to accompany him to his training sessions where I would just run and jump for fun. I started athletics seriously when I was 8-years-old, and won my first medal when I was 12 in long jump. When I was 17, I won a silver medal at the U20 National Championships, and this success motivated me further,” Rypakova said in a conversation with Niamkey during a Forum session.
Aldabergenova also related her story at the Forum: “I started sport as a six-year-old in gymnastics. In 2011, I moved to freestyle aerials because my dream was to be in the Olympic Games. My most memorable moment was at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Unfortunately I didn’t win any Olympic medals (she finished sixth), but it was a big honour for me and my family to represent my country.”
Aldabergenova, 29, was also grateful for the Olympic Scholarship in her career. “Thanks to the good cooperation between our NOC and the federation, I was backed financially and I used the scholarships to buy equipment, medicine, and treatment.”
The next generation of Kazakhstan athletes, as well as representatives from the 41 other NOCs at the Forum, will be certain to follow in the footsteps of Rypakova and Aldabergenova.
