Kuandyk Suleymenov

Club / Team

Kustanai Youth Sports School No. 3: Kazakhstan

Awards and honours

He holds the title of Master of Sport of International Class in Kazakhstan. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)

Name of coach

Madygali Karsybekov [national], KAZ

Hobbies	Listening to music, watching movies, taking walks. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)
Injuries	In 2015 he was hit by a car and injured his right ankle. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017) In 2012 he spent time in hospital due to a foot problem. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)
Memorable sporting achievement	Finishing eighth in the A final of the 3000m at the 2014 World Cup event in Seoul, Republic of Korea. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)

Reason for choosing this sport

"I initially tried wrestling as a kid but I fell in love with short track through watching clips of top international competitions."

Most influential person in career	His mother. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)
Hero / Idol	US short track skater Apolo Anton Ohno, Russian short track skater Victor An, Korean short track skater Lee Jung-Su, Kazakh cyclist Alexander Vinokourov. (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)
Ambitions	To win a gold medal at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. (isu.org, 06 Dec 2018)

When and where did you begin this sport?

He took up the sport in November 2007 in Rudny, Kazakhstan.

Sporting philosophy / motto

"Step by step, one more step." (Athlete, 02 Feb 2017)

instagram.com/kuandyk_s/

Other information

LEARNING FROM THE DUTCH During the off-season in 2016, he spent time training in the Netherlands thanks to a training agreement between the Kazakh and Dutch national short track teams. "The Netherlands have a totally different system to all the other teams. Working with them has made us a lot smarter and more professional. They put all their focus in training on the relay, which is so different. Their philosophy is that this way, you can do more laps, the speed is much faster and it gives you more endurance. They do a lot of bike work, and I mean a lot." (isu.org, 06 Dec 2018)