Despite the challenges, how Kazakhstan's freestylers remain world leaders in their sport.
The Kazakhstan freestyle mogul team has demonstrated impressive results at the ongoing junior world championship (up to 19 years old) in Shymbulak, Almaty. The outcomes—1 gold and 2 silver medals—delighted Kazakh fans, especially since they were achieved by juniors, the future of domestic sports. Correspondent Caravan.kz recalls the achievements of past youth world championship winners in adult sports and the challenges they face on their path to medals.
Throughout the history of Kazakhstan's independent sports representation, the country has seen junior world championship medalists. Dmitry Reykherd won gold in 2007. At the adult level, he has twice placed in the top 8 at the Winter Olympics and has also earned medals in the overall World Cup standings and at individual stages. He is currently the senior coach for juniors on the Kazakhstan team.
The decorated Yulia Galysheva has won gold medals at the junior world championships twice—in 2011 and 2012. Later, she became a four-time medalist at adult world championships (1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze) and a bronze medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Yulia continues her sports career and aims to add to her collection of awards at the 2025 World Championship and the 2026 Olympics.
Pavel Kolmakov won a bronze medal at the junior world championship in 2016, and in 2021, he achieved a similar result at the adult world championship. The athlete is also continuing his career and preparing for major competitions.
To the delight of Kazakh fans, the young generation of mogul skiers has also made a mark by winning awards at the junior level. Anastasia Gorodko secured two medals—gold and silver—at the world championship in Almaty, bringing her total to 6 individual medals by the age of 19. The official website of the International Ski Federation (FIS) compared her achievements to those of freestyle legend from Estonia, Kelly Sildaru, regarding the number of podium finishes in junior world championship history. It is worth noting that Sildaru is currently 22 years old and is already a bronze medalist at the adult Olympics in slopestyle and a world champion in halfpipe.
The junior world championship in Almaty has shown that Kazakhstan in freestyle mogul is not just about individual talented athletes but represents a comprehensive training system with its own school and methodology. A testament to this is the silver medal in team parallel mogul won by Yulia Feklistova and Denis Rastruba (students of Sergey Aksenov and Dmitry Reykherd). They have already participated in the youth winter Olympics and, having earned a medal among juniors, have surely gained additional motivation for their future careers.
Challenges Are Inevitable
The uniqueness of the Kazakhstan freestyle mogul school lies in its development in a single region—the East Kazakhstan region. The ideal natural conditions of the Altai mountains, a dedicated training base, strong coaches, and a large number of aspiring athletes contribute to impressive results. Kazakhstan has its signature jump, and local mogul masters are recognized and respected worldwide. Shymbulak in Almaty has regularly hosted World Cup stages in freestyle since the 2018/19 season, and in 2021, it hosted the adult world championship for the first time, while in 2025, it will host the junior world championship for the first time. The Almaty "Yuka G" track meets international standards; as part of the competition preparation, Kazakhstan annually attracts leading experts in the construction of competitive tracks—specialists with experience from the Olympics and world championships. Over the years, local specialists have become experts in track design, utilizing modern techniques for track laying—snowmobiles, groomers (one for each discipline), and 8 snow generators.
Hosting competitions positively impacts the popularity of winter sports among youth. Championships and World Cups, and more importantly, the victories of Kazakh athletes in them, will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of Kazakhstanis to engage in freestyle and other winter sports. The participation of the world's strongest juniors will serve as a shining example for young athletes. However, there are currently no mogul sections in Almaty. According to our information, coaching staff concentrated in the East Kazakhstan region are not ready to relocate to Almaty for various reasons, although the Ministry of Tourism and Sports is prepared to support and collaborate with the akimat to open mogul sections in the largest metropolis of Kazakhstan.
Another difficulty that the Kazakhstan mogul team has faced is funding issues. These challenges became particularly acute in 2024, after mogul was excluded from the list of priority sports under the old legislation. In 2025, according to the relevant government agency, these issues will be a thing of the past. At a meeting of the Public Council of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ruslan Yesenalin named freestyle mogul as a priority winter sport under the new legislative proposal.
“Freestyle mogul will receive special attention, along with other priority sports. We will strive to ensure that both the main and youth teams are fully financed for all pre-Olympic starts and training camps before upcoming international competitions. All planned financing will be ensured, and requests from head coaches will be satisfied,” said Yesenalin.
The chairman of the public council of the MTS RK, Yelsiyar Kanagatov, added that there are not many sports in Kazakhstan that have brought medals at the Winter Olympics, and they need attention.
“It is also essential to focus on the youth and junior teams. This will yield results. Thanks to the reforms, additional funding will become available, and we hope that these priority sports will be taken into account,” noted Yelsiyar Kanagatov.
The adult Winter Olympics 2026 is approaching, and Kazakh fans eagerly await its start, knowing that there are athletes in the country who have the potential to win Olympic medals in at least two or three sports.