Daniyel Dil - miner by profession, acrobatic gymnast by passion

“Working in a mine does not help in sports at all," said history-making Kazakhstan acrobatic gymnast Daniyel Dil with a smile.

"It is a physically demanding job and [there are] a lot of harmful factors but, since our sport is not an Olympic sport, I had to look for work."

The 27-year-old father of one is currently taking time out from his day job to compete at the biennial FIG Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships in Guimarães, Portugal from 19-22 September.

The aim is to defend the world title won in the men's pair balance event alongside compatriot and long-time friend, Vadim Shulyar, in 2022.

A historic first world title for their nation was a distant dream when Dil started the sport at the insistence of his mother and grandmother, who took the youngster to the gym to try out the sport to keep him off the streets.

By 2008, 12-year-old Dil was teamed up with eight-year-old Shulyar, the younger kid's lighter frame proving a boon to Dil's sturdier bulk, perfectly complementing each other for the sport in which the gymnasts perform routines set to music, incorporating balances and holds, and complex lifts, throws and tumbling.

Three routines are performed in competition – balance, dynamic, and combined – all of which take an inordinate amount of training to perfect.

Six days a week, in fact, for Dil, and that's after a spending a full day working down the mine.

Mining a family affair for Daniyel Dil

It was family tradition that led Dil to his day job in mining, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, and his mother who worked in the industry as a safety officer.

"At first it was hard," Dil told the world governing body, the FIG, of combining the physicality of his profession with his passion, "but over time I got used to it," he added.

"Initially, at work, no one even knew that I was doing acrobatic gymnastics. I had to take time off, and then management found out that I am an athlete and at what level I am performing. They took this with great understanding and now give me all kinds of support," he said.

When his colleagues found out, they were also "very supportive and very proud of me and what I have achieved”, Dil acknowledged.

They should be.

History for Kazakhstan in acrobatic gymnastics

Shulyar and Dil first performed internationally together in 2017, incredibly, winning bronze at their first FIG World Cup.

A home crowd roared them on to silver at that year's Asian Championships, taking place in Almaty, then finishing in a creditable 11th place at their first world championships appearance in 2018.

A first world cup title was secured in 2019, in Las Vegas, with more podiums places secured leading up to the title of world champions three years later.

So why have they been so successful?

“It is our mutual understanding, the long time we have spent together, and of course the experience we have built up,” said Dil in 2022, after 13 seasons competing together. “We have a very good relationship.

"Even if I’m older, I can’t say that I’m the main one in our couple. We are equal. We trust each other entirely and understand each other and the sport very well.”

Dil also has a keen sense of perspective about the life he leads, highlighted in a poem he shared to his social media account ahead of the world title defence.

The poem includes the line: "Your hard work is the dream of every unemployed person."

It ends with:

"You need to appreciate what you have, because no one knows what will happen to you tomorrow."

16 world titles are at stake, as well as the coveted golden ticket to the 2025 World Games, the biggest event in acrobatic gymnastics calendar. Follow FIG on X @gymnastics and the hashtag #ACRO2024 and info, results and news at the FIG website.