For the first time, the Nordic Walking World Cup was held in Almaty

Another discipline of the world championships has been added to the treasury of Kazakhstan – the Nordic Walking World Cup stage, a competition in which not the fastest, but the most technically prepared athlete becomes the first.

Last weekend, July 30, in the Baum Grove in Almaty, the Nordic Walking World Cup was held under the auspices of the ONWF (World Nordic Walking Federation). The organizers of the competition with the support of the Almaty city administration were the Nordic Walking School Eurasia (NWSE) and the Extreme Athletics team.

We have already written about the development of the culture of Scandinavian (as it is also called, northern) walking in Kazakhstan. After all, just wandering with sticks in your hands and doing Nordic walking are not the same thing. You need to walk according to science, and not as you please.

The chief referee of the Cup stage and the head of the NWSE, Maxim Proshchenko, is well known in sports circles, because it was thanks to his painstaking work that Nordic walking as a phenomenon was established in Kazakhstan. He was even dubbed the father of Nordic walking in Central Asia. And this is partly true, since it was Maxim Proshchenko who managed not only to create a school with a developed network of instructors throughout the country and neighboring countries, but also to attract the attention of the world elite of Nordic walking. Which eventually resulted in the holding of the World Cup stage.

In the previous issue of MK, we spoke in detail about the difficult fate of Maxim, which led him through great trials to a once unfamiliar discipline. Now we will only note that after a severe climbing injury, doctors did not give the most optimistic forecasts. In short, Proshchenko had to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. But it was Nordic walking that helped him get off the bed, get on his feet and literally be born again. Today, the development of Scandinavian culture in Kazakhstan has become a real salvation for thousands of compatriots who now promote Nordic walking and compete at a decent level with the strongest “Scandinavians” of the planet.

About 250 athletes gathered at the start of the stage in Almaty, a fifth of which were participants from near and far abroad. Distances – 5, 10, 21 kilometers for adults and 2 kilometers for children. There was also a separate test for paraathletes for 5 kilometers.

In an interview, Proshchenko emphasizes that a sports society has already been formed in Kazakhstan, and most importantly, judges have appeared, which opens up great prospects.

— Hosting the World Cup stage in our country is a great honor and pride. We have been developing Nordic Walking in Central Asia for about 10 years. During this time, we held many competitions in different formats, where there were both mass starts and expert championships. Our participants regularly go to competitions in Europe. We met the organizers of these competitions at the First World Championship, which was held in Poland in 2018. Then about 20 Kazakhs came to the start. It was an important experience. In the future, the cup competition system began to develop, and last year, as a result of a series of negotiations, it was decided to hold the World Cup stage in Kazakhstan,” Proshchenko shared.

The expert also said that in order to implement the competition, it was necessary to fulfill a number of ONWF requirements.

First, refereeing. A team of Kazakhstani judges has been trained and certified according to international rules. That is, now our judges can serve competitions both in Kazakhstan and in other countries of the world.

Secondly, the requirements for the track. According to international standards, 90 percent of its length should be soil and only 10 percent asphalt. There are plenty of such places in our country, but the Baum grove remains completely out of competition, since there is a thick shadow that saves from the summer heat and there are many different dirt routes for laying tracks.

Already during the competition, foreign guests noted the high level of training and excellent conditions for holding big starts. This was also stressed by ONWF President Marcin Schulz.

– In Europe and America, Nordic walking competitions gather thousands of participants at the start. In Asia, everything is just beginning, and we would like very much that both in Kazakhstan and in neighboring countries the number of people involved in this sport and participating in such competitions would also be very large. After all, Nordic walking is a sport where participants compete not only among themselves, but above all with themselves. This year the first stage of the World Cup was held in Italy. The second stage was taken by Kazakhstan. The next stages will be held in Poland, Slovakia and Morocco,” said Marcin Schulz, President of the International Nordic Walking Federation.

The importance of an event of this magnitude cannot be underestimated, as it contributes to the presentation of Kazakhstan on the world stage. As Proshchenko noted, many people in the EU still do not even know where our country is located, not to mention our natural beauties and sights.

— During one of my presentations in Europe, I overlaid a map of Kazakhstan on a map of Europe on a scale, which overlaps it almost completely. Many participants were sincerely surprised, which indicates that we need to work more on popularization,” Maxim Proshchenko emphasized.

The first stage of the Nordic Walking World Cup in the history of the country was excellent, all the winners received medals and certificates, and the participants received finishing medals. Of course, there is still a lot of work ahead on the technical analysis of the event, but judging by the mood of foreign guests, it can be assumed that the World Cup stage will be held in Kazakhstan in the future, only now with a large number of athletes and Nordic walking enthusiasts.