Akmaral Yerekesheva
Kazakhstani rhythmic gymnast
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Aqmaral Erekeşeva[a] (Kazakh Cyrillic: Ақмарал Ерекешева; born 20 March 2010) is a Kazakh rhythmic gymnast.[1] She's a multiple World and Asian junior Championships medalist.
represented
(2023-present)
| Akmaral Yerekesheva | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ақмарал Ерекешева | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 20 March 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Rhythmic gymnastics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | (2023-present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Head coach | Balginbayeva Meruert Tulegenovna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Choreographer | Aydys Saaya Alekseevna | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
She has one sister Adel, who also competes in rhythmic gymnastics.
Career
Akmaral took up rhythmic gymnastics at the age of 4.[2]
Junior
In March 2023, Yerekesheva made her international debut at the Aphrodite Cup in Greece, winning silver in the All-Around among those born in 2010.
In 2024, at the same tournament, she won gold in the All-Around and silver with clubs as well as bronze with ball.[3][4][5] In May she was selected for the Asian Championships in Tashkent, there she won gold team, gold with ribbon, silver in the All-Around and with ball and bronze with clubs.[6] In July she was the silver medalist in the All-Around and won bronze with clubs and ribbon at the VIII Games of the Children of Asia held in Yakutia.[7] In October, she won gold medal in all-around at Kazakhstani National Championships.[8]
In March 2025, she won gold in the All-Around junior, silver with hoop and with clubs, gold with ball and ribbon at the Aphrodite Cup.[9][10][11][12][13] Then she competed at International tournament AGF Trophy in Baku, Azerbaijan, and won gold medals in team, ball and ribbon and silver medal in hoop.[14] In April, she won gold medal in all-around at Kazakhstani National Championships.[15] On May 16-18, she competed at the 2025 Asian Championships in Singapore.[16] She won silver medals in all-around, team and clubs and gold medals in ball and ribbon.
In June, she was selected to represent Kazakhstan at the 2025 Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she won gold medals in ball and ribbon and silver medal in hoop final.[17][18] For the first time in the history of Kazakhstan — a two-time junior world champion in rhythmic gymnastics.
Senior
In February 2026, she had her first competition as a senior, where she became the Kazakhstani national all-around champion in front of Aibota Yertaikyzy.[19] She also won gold medals in ball and clubs and silver in hoop and ribbon. In March, she made her senior international debut at Aphrodite Cup in Greece and won gold medal in all-around ahead of Andreea Verdes. In finals, she got gold in clubs and silver in ball.[20] In early April, she competed at Thiais Grand Prix and took bronze medal in all-around behind Alina Harnasko and Mariia Borisova. She won silver medals in hoop and ribbon and bronze medal in clubs final.[21] On April 17-19, she made her World Cup debut at Baku World Cup, where she took 10th place in all-around and won bronze medal in ribbon final.
In May, she competed at the 2026 Asian Championships in Bishkek, and won team silver medal alongside Aibota Yertaikyzy and senior group. She placed 6th in the all-around final and won bronze medals in hoop and ball, and silver in clubs final.[22] In June, she won bronze medals in clubs and ribbon at Liga Iberdola in Spain. In July, she competed at Milan World Cup and took 11th place in all-around, and did not qualify to any apparatus finals.[23]
Achievements
- First Kazakhstani rhythmic gymnast to win a medal in an individual apparatus final at World Championships at both junior and senior level.
- First Kazakhstani rhythmic gymnast to win a gold medal in an individual apparatus final at World Championships at both junior and senior level.
Routine music information
| Year | Apparatus | Music title |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Hoop | Рух by Президенттік оркестр / Сауыт by Ибрагим Ескендір |
| Ball | Duck Duck Goose by Power-Haus & Joni Fuller | |
| Clubs | Unshakable March by Цифей / Main theme (from Pirates of the Caribbean) | |
| Ribbon | Nah Neh Nah by Vaya Con Dios | |
| 2025 | Hoop | Рух by Президенттік оркестр / Сауыт by Ибрагим Ескендір |
| Ball | Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps by The Pussycat Dolls | |
| Clubs | Revolt by Nathan Lanier | |
| Ribbon | The Terry Theme From Limelight by Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra / Paris By Night by Bob Sinclar |
Competitive highlights
(Team competitions in seniors are held only at the World Championships, Europeans and other Continental Games.)
| International: Senior | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2026 | World Cup Milan | 11th | 13th (Q) | 18th (Q) | 9th (Q) | 12th (Q) | |
| Asian Championships Bishkek | 6th | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | |
| World Cup Baku | 10th | 6th | 13th (Q) | 27th (Q) | 3rd | ||
| Grand Prix Thiais | 3rd | 2nd | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | ||
| IT Aphrodite Cup | 1st | 10th (Q) | 2nd | 1st | 5th | ||
| International: Junior | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2025 | Junior World Championships | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |||
| Junior Asian Championships | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | ||
| IT AGF Trophy | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | |||
| IT Aphrodite Cup | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 1st | ||
| 2024 | Junior Asian Championships | 2nd | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | |
| National: Senior | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2026 | Kazakhstani National Championships | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | |
| National: Junior | |||||||
| Year | Event | AA | Team | Hoop | Ball | Clubs | Ribbon |
| 2025 | Kazakhstani National Championships | 1st | |||||
| 2024 | Kazakhstani National Championships | 1st | |||||
| Q = Qualifications (Did not advance to Event Final due to the 2 gymnast per country rule, only Top 8 highest score); WR = World Record; WD = Withdrew; NT = No Team Competition; OC = Out of Competition(competed but scores not counted for qualifications/results) | |||||||
Notes
- Often transliterated as Akmaral Yerekesheva through a Russified Romanization of Акмарал Ерекешева.