2024 Virtus World Half-Marathon And 10K Road race Declared Open At Almaty, Kazakhstan

The 2024 Virtus World Half-Marathon and 10K Road race was declared open today in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This event is significantly important for Virtus as this event is making its way to the Asian region for the first time event and is hosted by Kazakhstan’s Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Impairment- IDSport.

The Virtus World Championship is included in the official republican calendar of events in the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Athletes from 8 countries, Portugal, Bulgaria, Japan, Poland, China, Spain, Sweden and Kazakhstan, will compete at Almaty 2024.

During the Opening Ceremony the President of Virtus Asia, the Secretary General of NPC Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan ID Sports Federation welcomed all participants including delegates, representatives of NGOs, sports organizations and the press. Participants of the event stood for the anthem of Virtus and flags were displayed.

Expressing excitement for the event, Dina Temirgaliyeva, President of Kazakhstan’s Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Impairment said,

“We are delighted to have all the athletes, officials and parents here at Almaty 2024. The competition coincides with World Autism Awareness Month which has added additional importance to this event apart from being the first one in the Asian region and shows our commitment to the principles of inclusion and equality in sports.”

The Virtus representatives, the leader of the Kazakhstan Paralympic Committee, the IEA sports federation, and the athletics federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the participation of experts hosted a media briefing conference “VIRTUS, development of high-achieving sports for athletes with intellectual impairments in the Republic of Kazakhstan” on April 20, 2024.

“I’m very glad to be here. Thanks to Kazakhstan for hosting. I hope that everyone will have only good impressions. Virtus gives people/athletes with an intellectual impairment the opportunity to develop and excel in sports, and through its various pathways, it provides the opportunity to participate in various international competitions like Virtus Global Games, Virtus World Championships, Regional Games and the Paralympic Games. Our vision is an inclusive world for athletes with an intellectual impairment” said Mr Patrick Chan, the President of Virtus Asia.

Mr Olzhas Akpambetov, Secretary General of NPC Kazakhstan, also attended the opening ceremony and was thrilled to meet the athletes from different countries.

“On the part of the National Paralympic Committee, we support the idea of hosting the first World Virtus Half Marathon Championships here in Kazakhstan wholeheartedly. We hope that the athletes will show us their best results. And this will be just the beginning of organising such marathons in Kazakhstan on an annual basis. I hope that the result of this event will attract more athletes from all over Central Asia in the next editions.”

The races will officially commence on April 21, 2024, and are included in the annual Almaty Half Marathon program with the support of the “Courage to be the First” foundation and Almaty City Council administration.

The 2023 European half-marathon champion, Cristiano Pereira from Portugal, is also making his way to Almaty for the event. The host nation will be represented by a team of six athletes from II1 (athletes with intellectual impairment) and II3 (athletes with autism), including 5 runners from Astana and 1 from Almaty.

For accreditation and additional information, please contact the press service of the Federation and follow updated information on social networks. 

Contact for media enquiries:

Name: Tansholpan Tel.: +7 (707) -555 39 83 | Email: [email protected].

Results, news alerts and detailed information will be available on the IDSport website and Virtus website along with their social media handles.