I wish our athletes good luck at Rio Olympics - sports philanthropist Bauyrzhan Ospanov

Have you come to Rio de Janeiro to root for our athletes? Who do you pin your hopes on?

This is the Olympic Games! The whole world is watching the Rio Olympics. We pin high hopes on all Kazakhstani athletes. The more medals we win, the more pride Kazakhstan will feel.

I wish good luck to our athletes. In sport victory and defeat go hand in hand. But we want to see our athletes on the Olympic podium. I personally pin high hopes on our boxers.

Who, in your opinion, has the highest chance to clinch medals?

I don't want to make any forecasts. They all dream about victory. Let their dreams come true, I wish them good luck in their preparations. Our boxers are considered a threat by many athletes, because they are strong. Kazakhstani boxers who participate in the Rio Olympics are internationally renowned. They are experienced and have certain sports achievements under their belts. I am confident we won't leave Rio de Janeiro empty-handed.

Everyone in Kazakhstan knows that you are the one who introduced Zhanibek Alimkhanuly to the world of boxing. This is the first time he represents Kazakhstan at the Olympics. What do you expect from him?

Zhanibek is a talented and hard-working athlete. He is well behaved, polite and very intelligent. He is aware that his country expects him to win. I believe he will do his best to collect an Olympic medal. He achieved it all through hard work. He became the world champion and now represents his country at the Olympic Games. He went through a lot to earn the Olympic berth. There are many athletes who cannot get the Olympic license. But Zhanibek is not one of them. If he does well in Rio and succeeds, I will be happy.

In what other sports can our athletes clinch medals?

We have good field-and-track athletes and weightlifters. I think they all stand a chance to win medals. Perhaps, wrestlers will win as well.

This year some Russian athletes were banned from the Olympic Games. What do you think about it?

I think it is wrong to ban a country from certain sports. It will affect competition at the Olympics. They should have punished only those athletes who used doping and let clean athletes participate. But that doesn't depend on us. I think the whole thing with the ban is wrong.

What do you think about the organization of the Rio Olympics?

The most important thing is that they provide necessary conditions for athletes. I've looked around quite a bit. There are things I'm not quite satisfied with. But it's not that important. Everything is OK.

Thank you for the interview.