At the end of December, the State Agency for Sports already held an award ceremony for its candidates, but there were too many winners divided by gender and sport. We will try to determine a single winner according to our version.
This year, there were no large multi-sport events held in Kyrgyzstan, which complicates the selection. Only the World and Asian Championships remain.
Unfortunately, in 2025, we did not have world champions among athletes in Olympic sports, except for age group tournaments. However, Zhantörö Mirzaliev became the world champion in Greco-Roman wrestling among youth under 20 years old, and 14-year-old Zlata Arkhatova won gold at the junior world championship in rhythmic gymnastics.
Let’s recall who else showed good results last year.
In the UFC, Valentina Shevchenko defended her championship title twice and finished the year at the top of the ranking in her weight category, also becoming the leader among women regardless of weight categories. An impressive result!
Myktybek Orolbay uulu also achieved two significant victories: first, he defeated Tofik Musaev from Azerbaijan, and then knocked out Jack Hermansson. Although this is commendable, it is still not enough for the title of the best.
In the world of football, it is worth noting the goalkeeper of the Kyrgyz national team, Erjan Tokotaev, who, despite not having a club, performed magnificently as part of the national team. There were talks about a move to Europe, but he chose "Andijan" in the Uzbekistan championship. There, he became a real star, making it into video compilations of the best saves and delivering a series of four matches in the second League of Champions of Asia without conceding a goal. This is worthy of praise!
Tokotaev was recognized as the best football player of the year by the Kyrgyz Football Union!
There were also good results in boxing. In 2025, competitions began under two federations — World Boxing and IBA. The first is recognized by the International Olympic Committee, while the second is considered commercial.
At the World Championship under World Boxing, Ikhtiyar Nishonov reached the quarter-finals, and Munarbek Seyitbek uulu won silver at the World Boxing Cup.
At the end of the year, the World Championship under IBA took place, to which the Kyrgyzstani athletes arrived a day late, and the organizers postponed the start of the tournament to that same day. As a result, Omar Livaza reached the final and won silver, while Nishonov took third place, winning a bronze medal. Livaza became the first Kyrgyzstani to reach the final of the World Championship.
It was Livaza who was recognized as the best male athlete in Olympic sports by the State Agency for Sports.
However, it is worth noting that the World Championship was truncated: many countries were not represented by their main squads, and only representatives from the post-Soviet space reached the quarter-finals.
At the World Wrestling Championship in Croatia, Kyrgyzstan won five medals.
Bekzat Almaz uulu could have become the first Kyrgyzstani to win a world championship in freestyle wrestling, but in the final, leading against an athlete from North Korea, he missed the victory, repeating the achievement of Ernazar Akmataliev.
Aiperi Medet kyzy confidently reached the final, where, unfortunately, she lost to a strong opponent from Ecuador. She was recognized as the best female athlete in Olympic sports by the State Agency. However, the system for determining the best athletes includes results from all tournaments.
Last year, Medet kyzy won the Asian Championship and the Islamic Solidarity Games, as well as two medals at international tournaments in Albania and Hungary. At the end of the year, she received a three-room apartment from the state as a sign of support.
Thus, Aiperi Medet kyzy is one of the best female athletes of the year, but in our opinion, there is another favorite. If you ask her, she would probably also not be completely satisfied with the results. She clearly would have liked to win the World Championship, which was the main goal of the year.
Now let’s smoothly transition to our favorite, to whom we will most likely award the title of the best athlete of the year according to Sport АКИpress. It is Denis Petrashov!
Denis Petrashov
For Denis, the past year has been truly groundbreaking!
In February, he won a gold medal at a student tournament in the USA — the ACC Championship. Representing the University of Louisville, Petrashov took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 50.62 seconds, setting three records — the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Conference Championship, and among high school students.
In March, he added a silver medal at the student league, and in April, he won two golds at the TYR Pro Swim Series in the USA, where the strongest swimmers in the country competed. In May, Petrashov won three more gold medals at the TYR Pro Swim Series, setting a new record for Kyrgyzstan.
In the summer, Denis went to the World Universiade, where he also won gold. Despite being ill, he managed to reach the final and achieve victory. This gold became the first for Kyrgyz swimming at the World Universiade.
Immediately after that, he flew to Singapore for the World Championship, where he won bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke. This medal became the first in history for Kyrgyzstan at World Championships!
Can you imagine that Kyrgyzstan now has a medal from the World Swimming Championship? In a country where there are practically no Olympic-sized swimming pools!
The World Swimming Championship can be compared to events where medals are earned by almost all well-known countries. But Denis Petrashov managed to break through to this sports celebration and earn his share of success. He made a loud statement at the beginning of the new Olympic cycle, which will conclude with the Olympic Games in the USA, where he continues to train and compete.
We hope we have convinced you that this is an outstanding achievement! That is why Denis Petrashov deserves the title of the best athlete of 2025 according to Sport АКИpress!
