Sabina Altynbekova is an 18 year old girl who is currently playing in Taipei, Taiwan for the Asian under-19 Volleyball Championships. However, the moment she stepped onto the court this year, media and fans from all over Southeast Asia paid more attention to Sabina’s aesthetics than the actual volleyball game.
Damien Gayle of the Daily News reports that the local media in the Taiwan area has abandoned writing reports about the volleyball game and instead has focused on doing features strictly about Sabina Altynbekova. Multiple pictures of Sabina on her social media profile have generated thousands of online comments from young men ranging from China, Korea, Taiwan, and even Japan. There are even fan pages created in her honor. In fact, she has been getting so much attention that her coach was quoted saying “It’s impossible to work like this. The crowd behaves like there is only one player at the championship.”
With all the new found attention, her teammates & even her hometown media have voiced their displeasure of all the attention being on Sabina rather than the Volleyball tournament; even Sabina herself isn’t pleased.
“I was flattered at first but it’s all getting a little bit much,” she said. “I want to concentrate on playing volleyball and to be famous for that, not anything else.”
How does Sabina Altynbekova stack up with some of the notable attractive American female Athletes like Skylar Diggins & the Gonzalez Twins? Is she worth the hype? Is this type of problem becoming more prevalent in today’s sporting society? Post comments below!
–JRC
Product Of Society 