Today, on instructions from President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, an official seeing-off ceremony was held for the national team members in the Sport Hotel’s conference hall at the Olympic Complex. They will be representing Turkmenistan at the 32nd Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Among those attending the ceremony were Cabinet Deputy Chairman, Honored Trainer of Turkmenistan S. Berdimuhamedov, senior officials from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Policy, national sports centers, federations, teaching staff and students of the Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sports.
There is less than a week to go until the start of one of the most important and biggest sporting events scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 2021. By tradition, the Games will bring together the best athletes from all over the world, and representatives of our country will be among them.
The national team of Turkmenistan is composed of 9 athletes, who will compete in four sports: judo, track-and-field, weightlifting, and swimming.
Among our weightlifters are Hojamukhammed Toychiev (in the +109 kg weight class), Ovez Ovezov (109 kg), Rejepbay Rejepov (-81kg), Polina Guryeva (-51 kg), and Kristina Shermetova (-55 kg). Mergen Mammedov will compete in the hammer throwing event. Gulbadam Babamyratova will vie with other judo athletes (judokas) in the women’s -52-kg judo competition. Merdan Ataev and Darya Semyonova will represent our country in the men’s 100- and 200m backstroke and the women’s 100-m breaststroke events respectively. The team will be accompanied by sports specialists and trainers.
Addressing the ceremony participants, Vice-Premier, Honored Trainer of Turkmenistan S. Berdimuhamedov wished success to the athletes and trainers of the national team of Turkmenistan at the 32nd Summer Olympic Games, and expressed his confidence that they would worthily represent our country at the Games and enhance our country’s sporting prestige in the international arena.
The attendees welcomed with great zeal and enthusiasm the President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov’s Address to the Turkmen delegation to the Tokyo Olympics, which was read during the event. The head of state noted in his Address that in the epoch of power and happiness, this year designated as ‘Turkmenistan: the Land of Peace and Trust’ will be a new chapter in the history of our country’s sport.
The 32nd Summer Olympic Games will feature 339 medal events across 33 sports.
An exhibition showcasing local athletes’ sporting achievements was on view in the foyer of the Sport Hotel. It showed the medals Turkmen athletes had won in prestigious international competitions. Books by the nation’s leader Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov occupied a special place at the exposition.
The ceremony participants wished the Turkmen athletes every success at the Tokyo Olympics and sent a message of gratitude to the President of Turkmenistan, thanking the head of state for plenty of opportunities offered for the development of domestic sport, and the great trust placed in them to represent our country at the prestigious Games.
State Information Agency of Turkmenistan
