Dushanbe, Tajikistan, April 18, 2023: Tajikistan’s first and, so far, only Olympic champion, Dilshod Nazarov, promised that the republic would come home with medals from the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China this September and October.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon to promote the Tajikistan leg of the Hangzhou Asian Games Fun Run on Wednesday, the Rio 2016 men’s hammer throw gold medallist said that Tajikistan had chances to win Asian Games medals in several sports. These included judo, boxing, wrestling, taekwondo and athletics, he said.
“Tajikistan took part in the Asian Games for the first time at Hiroshima in 1994 and in total we have won 28 medals,” he told the press conference.
“We are doing our best to send more athletes to Hangzhou to get more medals. We promise we will come home with medals.”
The 28 medals are made up of four gold, seven silver and 17 bronze – and three of those four gold medals were won by Nazarov in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Nazarov, who has retired from competition and is now Vice President of Tajikistan NOC, welcomed delegates from the Olympic Council of Asia and Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) to the press conference to promote the fun run, which will take place on Wednesday, April 19 starting at 11am.
The Secretary General of Tajikistan NOC, Muhammadsho Abdullozoda, said Tajikistan planned to send 150 athletes and officials to Hangzhou to compete in 19 sports and preparations were going well with athletes training inside and outside the country.
The Secretary General added that Tajikistan was very honoured and proud to be hosting all three elements of the OCA’s “Asian Games for All” campaign – the children’s art competition, the youth reporter project and the fun run. Tajikistan is the only National Olympic Committee in Central Asia to be conducting all three activities, highlighting their desire to introduce and promote sport and the Olympic movement throughout society, he said.
The OCA’s Projects and Operations Manager, Wissam Trkmani, said the Asian Games Fun Run was a family festival and a way for the community to celebrate, regardless of age and athletic ability, and to invest in the youth.
He provided the local media with a brief history of the Asian Games and highlighted the fact that China would be hosting the OCA’s premier event for the third time following Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.
HAGOC’s Deputy Director of the Volunteers Department, Zhou Miaorong, informed the local media of the preparations for the Hangzhou Asian Games, which will feature 40 sports, 61 disciplines and 482 events and have one main Asian Games Village in Hangzhou and five sub-villages in various cities of Zhejiang province.
