# Athletes from the -stans **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 2, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264 "2014-09-02T16:41:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/1 "2014-09-02T16:41:53Z")
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it seems most of their athletes were Russian or Lithuanian. Any notable athletes from the “-stans”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/2 "2014-09-02T17:05:04Z")
I’m sure there are plenty of Olympians who might fit the list, but I don’t follow a lot of the sports that aren’t big in North America. There are a couple of tennis players from Kazakhstan and one from Uzbekistan whose names I recognize, but none are very famous. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/3 "2014-09-02T17:17:01Z")
That’s about what I figured. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/4 "2014-09-02T19:06:09Z")
Kazakhstan has gold-medaled in men’s and women’s Olympic weightlifting, and has also had some success in boxing and wrestling. None of those athletes achieved any degree of fame in the US. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/5 "2014-09-02T21:30:24Z")
[Alexander Vinokourov](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Vinokourov) of Kazakhstan was a reasonably successful cyclist during his career. (Which, like many others during that era, was marred by a 2-year suspension for blood doping from 2007-2009.) ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/6 "2014-09-02T21:49:55Z")
Does Ukraine count? Oksana Baiul was the 1994 Olympic ladies’ figure skating gold medalist. I don’t think the “-stans” have that many people, compared to the other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/7 "2014-09-02T22:05:08Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I don’t think the “-stans” have that many people, compared to the other countries. Uzbekistan has about 30 million people and Kazakhstan has around 18 million, and the other three Soviet “stans” are in the 5- to 8-million range. I’m sure the low population is an issue when you think about countries producing famous athletes, but I think the wealth of the countries is probably a bigger issue. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/8 "2014-09-02T22:15:10Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Does Ukraine count? Oksana Baiul was the 1994 Olympic ladies’ figure skating gold medalist. > > I don’t think the “-stans” have that many people, compared to the other countries. Reading the thread just now, her name popped into my head. I think most skaters were from the former USSR were Russian or Ukrainian. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/9 "2014-09-02T22:16:13Z")
Marley-Yup, those are pretty big factors. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/10 "2014-09-02T22:57:14Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Does Ukraine count? If so, [Sergey Bubka](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Bubka) deserves strong mention - easily the best pole vaulter of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/11 "2014-09-03T00:35:28Z")
I’m pretty sure that Kazakhstani weightlifter [Ilya Ilyin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Ilyin)has never lost in international competition. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/12 "2014-09-03T01:58:52Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Does Ukraine count? Oksana Baiul was the 1994 Olympic ladies’ figure skating gold medalist. Not to mention the Klitschko brothers. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/13 "2014-09-03T02:48:20Z")
This page lists current NHL statistical leaders by country, including 8 from Kazakhstan. > **[List of NHL statistical leaders by country | Kazakhstan](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NHL_statistical_leaders_by_country#Kazakhstan)** > > 1.List of NHL statistical leaders | > 2.List of countries with their first National Hockey League player ---
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-from-the-stans/697264/14 "2014-09-03T07:05:05Z")
Igor Paklin was from Kirgistan, though his career pretty much ended with the USSR.