The year 2021, proclaimed by the government of Turkmenistan as the Year of «Turkmenistan – Homeland of Peace and Trust», is full of large-scale events, such as: the celebration in May of the 140th anniversary of the city of Ashgabat, the 30th anniversary of the country’s independence, the holding of the World Track Cycling Championships in October.
Taking into account the stable and peaceful policy of our state, as well as the developed and favorable infrastructure for holding international competitions, the International Olympic Committee and International sports federations of many kinds of sport are increasingly giving preference to Turkmenistan for hosting large-scale international sports competitions. In recent years, the largest sports forums have been held in Turkmenistan. There is a unique Olympic town in Ashgabat, where the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games were successfully held in September 2017. In 2018, the World Weightlifting Championships was held in a sports complex, which has no equal not only in the Central Asian region, but also beyond its borders.
Last year, Ashgabat was supposed to host the final tournament of the 2020 Asian Futsal Championship (AFC Futsal Championship Turkmenistan 2020) and the World SAMBO Championships 2020, but due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Football and SAMBO Federations of Turkmenistan were forced to abandon organizing tournaments. However, despite this, according to the decision of the FIAS Executive Committee, the World SAMBO Championships in 2022 will be held in the Turkmen capital.
Of course, great attention is paid to sports in Turkmenistan, and especially to cycling. In 2018, at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, at the initiative of our country, World Bicycle Day was established, which is celebrated on June 3. Since that year, in order to popularize cycling and cycling as an environmentally friendly mode of transport, a mass bike ride is traditionally held everywhere in Turkmenistan on this day, while the movement of vehicles is limited, with the exception of public transport and emergency services. The column of the capital bike ride is led by the President of Turkmenistan. Recall that in 2019, in the Olympic town of Ashgabat, with the participation of 2019 cyclists, a sports event took place, which was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records. And last year, before the start of the massive 12-kilometer bike ride, the head of state opened the «Bicycle» monument, erected on the crossroads of Chandybil Avenue and Bekreve Street.
And now, in 7 months, Turkmenistan will become the first country in Central Asia to host the World Track Cycling Championships on October 13-17, 2021, in which representatives of 186 countries will take part. The venue for the competition will be the largest in the region indoor velodrome of the Ashgabat Olympic Village, which meets all international standards. The country is actively training athletes and also volunteers from among student youth. Very soon, specialists from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and its subdivision – the World Cycling Center (WCC) are expected to come to our capital to train Turkmen athletes, coaches and judges, as well as test cyclists using special technical approaches and equipment. In the nearest future, a batch of sports bicycles of the modern modification and spare parts for them will be purchased. Sketches of sports equipment for Turkmen athletes have been approved, and a preliminary version of the World Championships logo has been developed.
Last week, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with a member of the Steering Committee of the UCI, head of the «ARETI» group of companies Igor Makarov. During the negotiations, the topic of preparation for the upcoming World Championships was touched upon, and special attention was paid to the importance of vaccinating athletes arriving in Turkmenistan against coronavirus infection.
Experience shows that the performances of our athletes in their homeland have a good effect on their results. It is appropriate to recall the 2017 Asian Games, where Turkmen athletes showed the best achievement, having won 245 medals, of which 89 were gold, 70 were silver and 86 were bronze. And Yulduz Jumabayeva was awarded the gold medal of the 2018 World Weightlifting Championships in Ashgabat and, thus, inscribed herself in history as the first world champion Turkmen woman in this sport. At the October Cycling World Championships, 20 sets of gold, silver and bronze medals will be played on the track. We really hope that territorial advantage and sports fortune will accompany our athletes, we wish them victory and new world records at the World Championships!
.
Rustemgeldi Muradov,
2nd year student of «International Law» Faculty of
The Institute of International Relations of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan
Comments