Sporting initiatives

A keen sportsperson, Galimzhan Yessenov has been a prominent promoter of amateur sport in Almaty and Kazakhstan for many years. In 2017 he founded the Almaty Marathon, which has grown to become one of Kazakhstan’s and Central Asia’s largest mass participatory sporting events, with more than 69,000 entrants from 67 different countries participating to date.

The funds raised by the Marathon are donated to charity, with a record 66m Tenge raised in 2023. Charitable projects supported by the Marathon have included an oncology hospice and two specialist schools for children with special developmental needs.

In addition, Yessenov has previously been the head of the Almaty Triathlon Federation, the Vice President of the Kazakhstan Triathlon Federation and the Central Asian Triathlon Association, as well as a Board Member of the Asian Triathlon Confederation.

Yessenov has also been involved in the leadership of a number of MMA associations in Kazakhstan, and has been President of the Chess Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Outside of his work and charitable projects, Galimzhan enjoys training for triathlons, and in 2018 completed a full-distance Ironman in Copenhagen, finishing with a time of 12 hours 45 minutes.