Merjen Ishangulyyeva

Merjen Ishangulyyeva (born January 21, 1988 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Central Asia). She specializes in the 400 meter hurdles.

Merjen got introduced to athletics at the age of 17. Her first trainer was Chernov Gennadiy Ivanovich.

In 2011 Merjen moved to Almaty, Kazakhstan and got accepted to the Republic College of Sport. Started a career in boxing and made it to the Women's National Boxing Team.

In 2014 Merjen became a citizen of Kazakhstan. That same year she successfully was selected to compete in the Women's Boxing World Championship in Jeju (South Korea). During one of the fights Merjen injured her shoulder and was forced to stop practicing boxing.

In 2015 Merjen returned to athletics and was coached by Lyubov Nikitenko, became the winner of the "Sports Contest of People of Kazakhstan" and a member of the Kazakhstan National team.

In 2017, Merjen won the Republic of Kazakhstan championship in 400 meters hurdles, qualifying for the Asian Athletics Championships hosted in Bhubaneswar, India. At the Asian Athletics Championships Merjen won the 4th place in two categories - 400 m hurdles, 4 × 400 m relay.

In 2018, Merjen won the Kazakhstan Cup and qualified for the Asian Athletics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, taking the 9th place. Merjen also holds a title instructor at the National Olympic Committees.