Apartment, Dimash’s car, asphalt: How Kazakhstan rewards Olympic gold

Shaidorov’s free skate to Confessa / The Diva Dance, performed by Dimash Qudaibergen, lifted him from fifth place after the short program to Olympic gold with a total score of 291.58 points, securing Kazakhstan’s first ever gold in figure skating and its second gold in Winter Olympics history.

Cash rewards

Under current legislation, a victory at the Winter Olympic Games entitles an athlete to a state award of $250,000, equivalent to more than 123 million tenge.

Financial incentives are also provided for the coaching staff. The largest share of the award is paid to Shaidorov’s personal coach, Alexei Urmanov. The remaining amount is distributed between the national team’s head coach Asem Kasanova and the athlete’s first coach, Stanislav Shaidorov, who is also his father.

Kazakhstan’s athlete reward system is considered one of the most generous internationally. It provides payments not only for medalists, but also for athletes who finish within the top six in individual events. For first place, the reward amounts to $250,000. Silver medalists receive $150,000, while bronze medalists are awarded $75,000.

For comparison, in the United States, the payout for Olympic gold is about $37,500.

State recognition

For his contribution to the development of national sports and his outstanding Olympic achievement, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev awarded Mikhail Shaidorov the Order of Barys, 2nd Class. In his congratulatory message, the Head of State emphasized that the figure skater’s victory is a source of pride for the entire country.

Cars

Beyond state support, Kazakh athletes also receive backing from the private sector. Entrepreneur Arsen Tomsky announced his decision to gift Shaidorov’s father an Audi Q8, describing the gesture as a token of gratitude to the family that invested years of effort and resources into the athlete’s career.

Dimash Qudaibergen also congratulated the Olympic champion. The artist publicly called Shaidorov a successor to Kazakhstan’s figure skating tradition, recalled the legacy of Denis Ten, and said he plans to gift the Olympic champion a car.

An apartment in the capital

Representatives of the construction sector have likewise joined the initiatives to support the athlete. The development company Ulytau Group announced that it will present Mikhail Shaidorov with a three-bedroom apartment in a residential complex in Astana, located along the Esil River embankment.

Meme worthy rewards

The topic of “asphalt” also became part of the public discussion following Shaidorov’s Olympic triumph. During the previous Olympic cycle, in 2024, newly paved asphalt appeared near the home of Olympic champion Yeldos Smetov in Taraz. The episode quickly drew attention on social media and was widely perceived as a symbolic and informal form of recognition, eventually turning into a recurring meme.

Commenting on the wave of online reactions after the 2026 Games, Shaidorov shared what he found the funniest post.

“The funniest meme was the one where I am sitting like this, completely shocked, and someone wrote: ‘When you realize they are going to lay asphalt near your house.’ That one was the most explosive. I laughed for a long time,” the athlete said.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency published an interview with Kazakh designer Saken Zhaksybayev, founder of Fashion Bureau, in which he spoke about his collaboration with Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov.