Dushanbe, Tajikistan, April 20, 2023: Tajikistan student Umedjon Urusaliev is hoping that his visit to Hangzhou for the 19th Asian Games will be just the start of his China adventure.
Umedjon, 22, won the Olympic Council of Asia’s Asian Games Youth Reporter Project in Dushanbe this week – and his prize is a trip to Hangzhou as part of the OCA media team.
Speaking on Thursday – the day after he learned of his youth reporter success – the management academy student said: “This is a very big gift for me. I did not believe I would be the winner, so this has made a big impression on me.
“I like China and I like the Asian Games. As a child, I used to watch the Olympic Games and Asian Games on TV with my father, so now it’s very interesting that I have the chance to realise my dream and support the athletes of Tajikistan.
“I would like to be a bridge of friendship between China and Tajikistan for the youth generation.”
Umedjon plans to continue his studies in China once he has completed his course at the management academy.
“Another dream of mine is that, after two years when I graduate, I would like to go on for my next education in China. I like the culture and I want to learn about the traditions and history and other aspects of life in China,” he said.
Umedjon is the second winner of the OCA’s Asian Games Youth Reporter Project for Hangzhou following the first edition in Kuwait last November. The OCA is planning three more workshops in Palestine, Hong Kong and Mongolia, and the writer of the best news article/essay at each class will be invited to the 19th Asian Games.
Looking ahead to Hangzhou, Umedjon said: “I play tennis, athletics (running) and archery, so I am really looking forward to watching different sports at the Asian Games, especially athletics and water sports such as swimming and canoe/kayak.”
The OCA, in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee of Tajikistan, conducted the youth reporter project on Tuesday, April 18, with 50 students at the university of sport and physical education.
Tajikistan’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games men’s hammer throw champion, Dilshod Nazarov, was the VIP guest at the press conference section of the project. Students asked him questions about his career and his current work as NOC Vice President and then wrote an essay based around his Olympic success as an athlete and his comments during the press conference.