Winning Olympic gold should have been the hardest battle of Mikhail Shaidorov’s year. Instead, the months that followed his historic Winter Games triumph were consumed by a very different fight, one involving unpaid salaries, contract disputes, and a growing public controversy with Kazakhstan’s sports authorities. Now, after finally securing the money he spent months battling for, the 21-year-old had every reason to spend it on himself, his future, or perhaps a long-awaited reward. What he chose to do instead, however, is a twist few would have seen coming.

The Kazakhstan figure skater posted a photo of himself alongside several children on Threads. Shaidorov looked rather excited in the image while the children were all holding up gift certificates.

“Today I met with children who practice figure skating at Children’s and Youth Sports School No. 3 in Almaty and gave them a small gift in honor of International Children’s Day – certificates for sports equipment,” Shaidorov wrote on Threads (translated).

“Thank you all for your support! I’m so glad I was able to give the kids positive emotions and confidence in themselves. I’ll keep trying to support more and more kids in our wonderful sport.🙏🏼💙.”

The June 4 event was held at Complex Children’s and Youth Sports School No. 3 in Almaty as part of Kazakhstan’s International Children’s Day celebrations. According to local reports, Shaidorov distributed 30 gift certificates for sports equipment worth roughly $411 each, bringing the total value of the donation to approximately $12,334.

This comes in the aftermath of a turbulent few months for the Olympic gold medalist. It all kicked off after the end of the Winter Olympics in February 2026, a moment that should have been the pinnacle of Shaidorov’s career. Instead, they offered him a contract that would effectively require him to replicate a near-impossible feat. The figure skater confirmed that detail in a long post on Threads in late May.

“My team and I were contacted until mid-May to discuss a new 2026 contract. I have a confirmation correspondence,” Shaidorov shared on Threads (translated via Google Translate). “The contract is not agreed, but not because I do not agree with the amount or refuse to come as it is presented and want to show it. The contract, valid until the end of 2026, includes a commitment to win a medal at the 2030 Olympics.”

To put it in perspective, only three men have ever won back-to-back Olympic golds in figure skating. But that’s not where this saga started. It kicked off straight after the Olympics when Shaidorov took part in an interview. There, he pointed out that he was unhappy that the Kazakhstan ministry had released details of their expenditure on him.

It turned the Olympian’s head as he believed the focus shifted from his achievement to the money put into it instead. It marked the start of a controversy between the figure skater and the government. One that escalated into Shaidorov and his team not receiving their salaries for over five months. The 21-year-old confirmed that news in the same Threads post and also revealed that it had halted his training.

In the same statement, Shaidorov insisted he never intended for the matter to become a public dispute. “I don’t want to get into disputes with any organizations, but I can’t allow my name to be publicly dragged through the mud,” he wrote while thanking Kazakhstani supporters for standing behind him throughout the controversy.

The Olympian was set to leave for a training camp in early June. However, uncertainty surrounding funding, travel expenses, choreography costs, and training arrangements left preparations hanging in the balance. Shaidorov said he and his team repeatedly sought clarity but received few answers. “I am an athlete, and my job is to train three times a day, which I do,” he wrote. He also made a promise at the time: if his season preparations were ultimately funded, he would donate all unpaid salary money to children in honor of International Children’s Day. That, alongside a stir from across the internet, forced the Kazakh government to respond.

They did so via a statement from the Sports Development Directorate that confirmed talks over a new contract were ongoing.

However, things had stalled because of the guaranteed Olympic gold clause. That situation has now changed. In an interview with journalist Maya Bagriantseva, as she revealed via her Telegram channel, Shaidorov confirmed that he had signed a new contract.

“The salary issue is resolved – I’ve been paid in full, and there are no problems,” Shaidorov told Bagriantseva. “As promised, I donated this money to children. I decided to give gift certificates to a sports equipment store for figure skaters. I see it as my mission to support young athletes in Kazakhstan, and I’ll continue to do so as much as I can.”

The donation therefore represented more than a charitable gesture. It was the fulfillment of a commitment Shaidorov had publicly made while the dispute was still ongoing.

Shaidorov also clarified throughout the controversy that his concerns had nothing to do with Kazakhstan’s Olympic gold medal bonus. Under Kazakh law, Olympic champions are entitled to a government reward of $250,000, and the skater said he had no complaints regarding that process. His frustration instead centered on delayed salary payments, unresolved contract terms, and uncertainty surrounding preparations for the new season.

While the dispute may now be behind him, the controversy sparked a wider conversation across Kazakhstan’s sporting community. One of the athletes who weighed in publicly was Angelina Lukas. The boxer had little trouble making her feelings known about how Shaidorov was being treated.

Kazakhstani boxer Angelina Lukas opens up on Shaidorov’s situation

For Mikhail Shaidorov, the situation has clearly ended well. The 21-year-old got his salary, made the donation to the children, and is now on his way to a training camp in the US. The Olympic gold medalist’s case is far from an isolated one. If anything, it seems to be almost a standard, as Canadian bobsledder Chris Spring revealed in 2022. A four-time Olympian, Spring had received no federal funding for at least four months during that year.

The now 42-year-old then revealed that his new contract included clauses that he didn’t agree with. He also revealed that they were in negotiations in August 2022, with him last paid in April of that same year. However, by September 2023, Spring had retired from the sport and turned his attention to other opportunities.

Shaidorov’s case also resonated because of the circumstances surrounding it. The Olympic champion revealed that neither he nor members of his team had received salaries for months despite his success on the sport’s biggest stage, while the disputed Olympic-medal clause only intensified scrutiny of the situation.

More pertinently, though, this is not the first time it has happened to a Kazakhstani athlete. Boxer Angelina Lukas took to Instagram in the wake of Shaidorov’s saga and recalled her own fight.

“This doesn’t surprise me,” Lukas wrote on Instagram. “I went through this too with the Kazakhstan national team—when I was one of the team’s leaders, I was only paid 50,000 tenge.

“But the worst thing is when an athlete tells the truth or achieves results in defiance of the system, instead of support, they face pressure, harassment, and paid-for articles. I went through this myself: information about me was shared in public groups with calls for mass attacks.”

The boxer went on to reveal that she was one of the most prolific Kazakhstani athletes at the time. In fact, she attested to winning 250 amateur fights and had even become the nation’s first World Cup champion. However, she left the national team over the issues and yet continued to thrive. Lukas won the IBO world champion title and then the WBC International title by her fourth fight.

At a point in her career, the boxer was also ranked number 2 in the world. However, despite that, Lukas’ problems with the Kazakhstani sports ministry continued well into 2024.

“But many don’t even know about this… In 2024, I was given just a month’s notice about a licensed tournament before Paris, when I already had professional fights booked, only to later say, ‘But we invited her.’ After meeting with Sports Minister Yerbol Myrzabosynov last year, I was promised support—financial and informational. 

“The Sports Ministry says it doesn’t support professional sports. So why did Zhanibek Alimkhanuly meet with the president? Why did the head of state give Shavkat Rakhmonov an apartment?” she added.

“And how can I now tell him that the girl who was removed from the national team in 2021 was subject to five years of suppression, yet she still continued to win, bring glory to her country, and occupy the highest places in the world rankings?” 

For Shaidorov, the story has finally come full circle, and he kept his promise to support young skaters. Yet as Lukas’ comments show, his happy ending has also reopened a much larger conversation.