How Kazakhstan's flag made its debut at the Olympic Games.

On December 16, 1991, the law "On the State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan" was adopted. By 1992, both the Winter and Summer Olympic Games took place. Athletes from the former Soviet Union competed as part of the Unified Team (EUN), and during the traditional parade of nations, flag bearers from each independent republic participated. A correspondent from "Karavan" recalls how it all unfolded.

The 1992 Winter Olympics were held from February 8 to 23 in Albertville, France. Among the Unified Team's participants from Kazakhstan were Vladimir Smirnov (cross-country skiing), Lyudmila Prokasheva (speed skating), Andrey Verveykin, Dionis Vodnev (both ski jumpers), Alexey Bannikov (freestyle mogul), and Vadim Shakshabayev, Vadim Sayutin, and Evgeny Sanarov (all in speed skating). However, they had to parade under the flag of the Kazakh SSR, as the national symbols of independent Kazakhstan had not yet been developed and approved.

In contrast, the 25th Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, took place from July 25 to August 9, 1992. By that time, Kazakhstan had already adopted its national flag in its current form. The Olympics in Barcelona became one of the first global platforms where the national flag of young Kazakhstan was presented. Kazakh athletes, just like in Albertville, marched in the opening ceremony as part of the Unified Team, but this time with the flag of the young Republic of Kazakhstan.

At the 1992 Summer Olympics, at least six athletes from Kazakhstan competed, and the selection of the flag bearer was approached with great seriousness, given the significant responsibility. The first Minister of Tourism, Physical Culture, and Sports, Karatai Turysov, along with colleagues from the national Olympic headquarters, began reviewing all participating athletes. The flag had to be carried by the most deserving candidate.

By unanimous decision, the choice fell on 29-year-old Greco-Roman wrestler Daulet Turlykhano. By that time, Turlykhano had become a 7-time champion of the USSR, a winner of the USSR Spartakiad, a world champion, a European champion, a World Cup holder, and a silver medalist at the previous 1988 Olympics in Seoul as part of the USSR team.

At the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Daulet Turlykhano not only became the first flag bearer of independent Kazakhstan at the Olympic Games but also won a bronze medal.

At subsequent Olympic Games, flag bearers for the Kazakh team, which competed entirely independently rather than under the Unified Team's aegis, included Kairat Biekenov (ski jumping, Lillehammer 1994), Yermakhan Ibraimov (boxing, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000), Vladimir Smirnov (cross-country skiing, Nagano 1998), Radik Bikchentaev (speed skating, Salt Lake City 2002), Askhatt Zhytkeev (judo, Athens 2004), Alexander Koreshkov (hockey, Turin 2006), Bakhyt Akhmetov (weightlifting, Beijing 2008), Dias Keneshev (biathlon, Vancouver 2010), Nurmakhan Tinaliev (Greco-Roman wrestling, London 2012), Yerdos Akhmadiyev (cross-country skiing, Sochi 2014), Ruslan Zhaprov (taekwondo, Rio 2016), Abzal Azhgaliev (short track, Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022), Ekaterina Aydova (speed skating, Beijing 2022), Olga Rypakova and Kamshybek Kunkabayev (athletics and boxing, Tokyo 2020), and Olga Safronova and Aslanbek Shymbergenov (athletics and boxing, Paris 2024).

Since Kazakhstan began participating in the Winter and Summer Olympic Games as an independent team (starting in 1994), athletes have won a total of 86 medals, including 16 gold, 28 silver, and 42 bronze. The only athletes to have won a complete set of Olympic medals (gold, silver, and bronze) from 1994 to the present are athlete Olga Rypakova and judoka Eldos Smetov.