Bakhtiyar Artayev

Bakhtiyar Karipullauly Artayev (Kazakh: Бақтияр Кәріпұллаұлы Артаев; born March 14, 1983 in Taraz, Kazakhstan) is a Kazakh boxer who won the only Gold medal for Kazakhstan in the men's welterweight division (– 69 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was also the Winner of the Val Barker Trophy for the outstanding boxer of the 2004 Olympics Games. After the 2004 Summer Olympics he became a living legend of boxing in Kazakhstan; one of the Taraz sport centres was named after him and a book was written. The first tournament that Bakhtiyar won was the regional children's tournament under his coach Nurlan Akurpekov, who still coaches Artayev today. Before the 2004 Summer Olympics he tended to play second fiddle in the Kazakhstan boxing team, fighting only in Kazakhstan amateur tournaments. Nevertheless, he participated in 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he lost in the quarterfinals. Before the 2004 Summer Olympics he had not been considered as a favourite in a welterweight...