Holders of the Bolashak Scholarship, established by Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev, have completed their two-month course "Sport Management" specifically tailored by the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) to meet their career advancement needs. After passing the final exam, all the participants were awarded certificates confirming their qualification as international sport managers.

One of the participants, Kairat Zhumankulov, Master of Sports of the USSR in boxing, head of a sports school in Kazakhstan and an international referee, said: ‘At RIOU, we were provided with everything you would expect from a professional development course. Lectures were given by experts from the world's leading universities. The library offered excellent resources. We visited the sports facilities built in preparation for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, and were really impressed. We also had a chance to meet and make friends with RIOU's international students. I do hope that now we will work together to promote the Olympic Movement in the world.'

Sholpan Kalieva, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympian, Kazakhstan's judo national team coach,added: ‘We learned a lot of interesting and useful things in Sochi, and this knowledge will help us develop the mass sport movement in Kazakhstan. Overall, I think the creation of the Russian International Olympic University was a timely step. It will give a good opportunity for ex-athletes to start a new life and career. After completing a course here, they will become professional managers with the skills to organise large-scale sporting events.'

All participants of the professional development course at RIOU, Sochi, are holders of the Bolashak Scholarship provided by Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.