The team of Turkmenistan took part in the opening ceremony of the II Winter International Sports Games «Children of Asia», which took place in the Kemerovo Ice Palace «Kuzbass».
These comprehensive international competitions, held every four years under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee, bring together athletes under the age of 16 from Asia, as well as some European countries.
The International Games «Children of Asia» were first held in Yakutsk in 1996 on the initiative of the first President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Mikhail Nikolayev. The competition was established in honour of the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic movement. In 2012, UNESCO joined the facilitators. In 2016, it was decided to separate the Games into summer and winter.
The first Winter International Sports Games «Children of Asia» were held in 2019 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk with the participation of 28 teams from 20 countries, which competed for 93 sets of medals over 8 days.
The second Winter Games «Children of Asia» are hosted by four cities of Kuzbass at once - Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Mezhdurechensk and Tashtagolsky district. The competition brought together more than 860 young athletes from 13 countries and 8 regions of Russia, who will compete for 57 sets of awards in ten sports. Competitions will be held in cross-country skiing, short track, figure skating, hockey, ski jumping, snowboarding and alpine skiing. Also, at the initiative of Kuzbass, curling, freestyle and speed skating were included in the Games program for the first time. For the first time in the history of the Games, demonstration competitions in snow volleyball and computer sports will be held.
During the ceremony, a parade of delegations of athletes took place, the flags of the participating countries were introduced, vocal and choreographic numbers, as well as demonstration performances by two-time Olympic champion in figure skating Evgeni Plushenko and silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics Alexandra Trusova. The fire of the Winter Games «Children of Asia» was solemnly lit by the head of the Russian Ski Racing Federation, three-time Olympic champion Yelena Vyalbe and young speed skater Victoriya Fyodorova.
Turkmen athletes take part in the International Sports Games «Children of Asia» for the second time. Four years ago, they made their debut in hockey and figure skating competitions.
The current delegation of Turkmenistan includes 17 people, including 10 athletes who will compete in figure skating, short track and snow volleyball. The flag of our country at the opening ceremony of the Games was carried by the representative of snow volleyball Furkat Sharipov.
Turkmen figure skaters will perform short and free programs on the 27th of February and 1st of March at the «Oleg Korolenko Arena of Kuznetsk» Metallurgists in Novokuznetsk.
The speed skaters of the national team of Turkmenistan will compete with rivals in the short track at distances of 500 and 1000 meters in the «Kuzbass» Ice Palace. Competitions in this sport will be held on the 28th of February and 1st of March.
In snow volleyball, Turkmenistan will be represented by 4 athletes. Competitions in this demonstration sport will be held in the «Sheregesh» ski complex in the Tashtagolsky district of the Kemerovo region.
The closing ceremony of the II Winter International Sports Games «Children of Asia» will be held on the 4th of March.
