Sabina Altynbekova is a volleyball player and a social media star from Kazakhstan who is also known for her rare beauty.
She rose to fame in 2014 as people obsessively talked about her beauty and how she is too good-looking to be a volleyball player. Most famous people became popular through what they do, and for famous athletes, it is almost always because of their talent and skills in the sport; this isn’t the case with Sabina.
Even as she is a fine volleyball player, it was not her acuity in the game that earned her the attention of the public. At the 2014 Asian Under-19 Women’s Volleyball Championship in Taipei, Taiwan, Altynbekova endeavored to showcase her abilities in the sport but the spectators were more interested in wowing and oohing her for being pretty.
It was only a matter of time before she became popular online as her pictures were circulated across various social media platforms. With the popularity came an invasion of her personal life as many began to seek details of her life; from her family background to her upbringing, the kind of family she was raised in, who her parents are, who she is dating, and whatnot.
In all of these, the volleyball player has strived to live a normal life despite having over a million followers online.
Profile Summary of Sabina Altynbekova
- Full Name: Sabina Altynbekova
- Place of Birth: Aktobe, Kazakhstan
- Nationality: Kazakh
- Date of Birth: November 5, 1996
- Age: 27 Years Old
- Occupation: Professional Volleyball Player
- Father: Abay Altynbekov
- Mother: Nuripa Altynbekova
- Siblings: Guldana and Karina Altynbekova
- Husband: Sayat Salmanuly
- Height: 6 feet 1 inch (1.82 m)
- Weight: 59 kg (130 lb)
The 27 Years Old Volleyball Player Was Born In Aktobe, Kazakhstan
You will find Aktobe on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan, a country in Central Asia. It was here that the volleyball beauty was born, and according to records, her date of birth was on the 5th of November 1996. Much is yet to be learned about her family but it is known that her parents are Abay Altynbekov and Nuripa Altynbekova. Some reports suggest she is the only child of her parents but this is not true, Sabina has at least two siblings, sisters named Guldana and Karina Altynbekova. Apart from their names, nothing tangible is known about them and what they do for a living.
From what we gathered, Sabina Altynbekova attended a boarding school for the gifted. After she graduated from high school, her parents persuaded her to study law at Kazakh University for Humanities and Law. It seems Sabina was bent on pursuing a career as an athlete and eventually had her way.
As far as we know, it wasn’t much of a surprise to her parents that she decided to become a volleyball player. This is so because they were also athletes during their younger days. It is said that her father Abay Altynbekov was a skier whereas her mother Nuripa Altynbekova participated in track and field events. So, it is to a large extent, only natural that Sabina has always been athletically inclined, right from when she was a kid.
Sabina Altynbekova Became Famous When She Represented Her Country at The 2014 Asian Junior Women’s Volleyball Championship
If Sabina Altynbekova hoped for anything when she represented her country at the 2014 Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championship, it was for her and her teammate to win the tournament; little did she know that fate had other plans for her. At the event which served as the Asian qualifying tournament for the 2015 FIVB Women’s Junior World Championship, her team became a favorite: not because of how they played but because of Sabina’s looks.
Countries like Hong Kong, Japan, India, China, New Zealand, Australia, and more participated in the tournament which was held in Taipei, Taiwan from the 16th of July to the 27th of that same month in 2014. Her team eventually finished 7th but the popularity Sabina received from the tournament has endured over the years. Spectators at the tournament became fond of the player because of her looks and cheered for her. She was found it flattering initially but it soon became a source of distraction as it seemed they were not interested in watching her games but just to see her and dissect how beautiful she is.
It was reported that Taiwanese fans showed up with Kazakhstan flags and almost an hour before the game commence all because of Sabina Altynbekova. As the tournament progressed, it became a frustrating situation for the player and her team. Her coach Nurlan Sadikov was also quite irritated about it. He reportedly expressed that the Sabina Altynbekova-situation had become a problem and wished the crowd would stop behaving as though she is the only player at the championship.
She Was Approached By Several Modeling Agencies But Rejected Their Offers
Sabina Altynbekova stands at 6 feet 1 inch (1.82 m) and maintains her weight around 59 kg (130 lb). She has a refined figure and all it takes to become a supermodel; there are no doubts about that. Within days she made her first appearance at the tournaments, her pictures and videos went viral on the internet. One of her first videos uploaded online was titled Beautiful Asian Women Volleyball Player Kazakhstan U19 and it reportedly gained over 1.15 million views in a few days.
Opportunist created several social media accounts with her name and gained thousands of followers overnight. This intensified the attention she got from the media and it was so overwhelming that she had to issue a statement. She expressed her appreciation for all the admiration she was getting but implored her fans to stop setting up social media accounts with her name. Sabina made it clear that she wanted to be known as a volleyball player, that any other thing contrary to that constitutes a distraction.
The statement did little to discourage modeling agencies from approaching her with lucrative offers. Multiple reports claimed she was scouted by several agencies from all over the world but she rejected their offers because she was not ready to give up being a volleyball player. More so, it is said that her parents were against it.
Sabina Continues to Play Professional VolleyBall and Is Now Married to a Fellow Named Sayat Salmanuly
As much as she has tried to stay away from the limelight, Sabina Altynbekova has numerous fans who have been relentless about keeping up with her private life. She now has a verified Instagram account with over 1.1 million followers as of September 2021.
Considered to be one of the most beautiful volleyball players in the world, Sabina continues to play the game professionally. She joined GSS Sunbeams, a Japanese team just after the 2014 tournament, and played for them from 2015 to 2016. After that, she returned to her country and played for Almaty from 2016 to 2018. She joined Al Wasl based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates in 2019 and still plays for the side.
The Kazakh beauty is now married to a fellow named Sayat Salmanuly. As culled from his Instagram page, he is an author, a producer, and an entrepreneur.
