Everyone has unforgettable moments in his life. It has become a tradition among the Turkmen people that a worthy person with a great life experience, who has lived for many years, gathers grandchildren and great-grandchildren around him and begins his leisurely conversation with the words “my son”, or if this is a woman revered by her relatives, she addresses her granddaughters with the words “my daughter”, and they will start telling about their life, the events that have left proud feelings in their fate, about how to live with dignity and what kind of person everyone should be in this world. The precepts, bequeathed to us by our elders as a legacy since the time of the ancient Turkmen epic “The Book of My Grandfather Korkut”, have remained a national treasure to this day. Their teachings continue in the life of today’s generation. We are rejoicing today, because our young athlete has become a pride of the nation and brought joy to every home.
It is tradition among the Turkmen people that they say “a man” about those who have done hard work that exceeds their capabilities. What if this is a young girl, not at all like strong athletes – weightlifters. How we should call her then. However, it is she who has written a glorious page in the history of Turkmen sports, having won a champion title and a gold medal for her Motherland, her country, her people. This news first went around the world on the Internet, and then other international media provided detailed information on their pages.
Victories and achievements in sports are valuable because they do not lose their significance and value after many years. On the contrary, these athletes serve as an example to follow, they are national pride. One of the striking examples in the history of Turkmen sports is an outstanding Turkmen weightlifter Altymyrat Orazdurdyev, Honoured Master of Sports, three-time world and European champion and Asian champion.
We all remember the events of the World Weightlifting Championships in the United States that followed the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat. Turkmen athletes Rejepbay Rejepov and Kristina Shermetova, who won bronze medals, performed excellently at the tournament. In November 2018, for the first time in history, a Turkmen girl won a silver medal in an Olympic sport at the World Championships in Ashgabat. Thus, progress in weightlifting is being made.
These days, when Turkmen athletes are preparing intensively for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, good news came to our country from the International Weightlifting Federation in January. In its message to the President of Turkmenistan, the International Weightlifting Federation says, “according to the revised results, the Turkmen athlete Jumabayeva Yulduz receives a gold medal in the clean and jerk and a silver medal in the snatch”.
An athlete from Thailand Thunya Sukcharoen, who had won a gold medal in the under 45 kg weight category at the World Championships in Ashgabat, has been stripped of her honours due to an anti-doping rule violation. In accordance with the rules of the International Weightlifting Federation, her result in the competition was disqualified and the medal was forfeited.
Following Altymyrat Orazdurdyev, Yulduz Jumabayeva is a new rising star in the horizon of Turkmen sports. We all believe that she will be a winner many times and glorify our country at the world’s largest sports forums. We will be proud to watch the sacred flag of our Motherland rising up the flagpole.
On March 10, President of Turkmenistan, President of the National Olympic Committee of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited the Ashgabat Olympic town, where he took part in a festive event honouring Yulduz Jumabayeva. Congratulating Yulduz with all his heart on her outstanding achievement at the World Weightlifting Championships, Hero-Arkadag expressed belief that the flag of neutral Turkmenistan would fly high at international tournaments in the future. The leader of the nation presented the gold medals of the World Weightlifting Championships to the Turkmen athlete in a solemn atmosphere.
The award ceremony took place at the Sport Hotel on the same day. At the beginning of the ceremony, the Decree of the President of Turkmenistan was read out. A student from Turkmen State Institute of Physical Culture and Sport Yulduz Jumabayeva was honoured with the Medal of Turkmenistan Watana bolan söýgüsi üçin. She also received a white Lexus LX 570 Sport Plus.
The President of Turkmenistan creates favourable conditions so that Turkmen athletes will prepare well for the upcoming Olympic Games, as well as regional and international tournaments and win medals that will raise the prestige of our country as a sports power. Yulduz Jumabayev’s sports victories vividly exemplify the achievement of high goals by our Olympians.
Hojaberdy APBAYEV,
«Türkmenistan Sport» International Magazine
