Dushanbe, Tajikistan, April 6, 2025: Rumayza Norova won the second of ten tickets being awarded by the Olympic Council of Asia to young reporters to cover the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.
Rumayza beat a field of 17 entrants to earn a spot on the OCA media team to cover the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games next September. She will join Bhutan’s Meera Regmi who was the first winner.
Another eight spots are up for grabs as the OCA’s ‘Asian Games for All’ campaign traverses 30 National Olympic Committees across the continent in the build-up to the showpiece.
Participants were asked to write a short essay on why they wanted to report on the Asian Games in Japan.
Rumayza personalised her essay by writing about Tajik judo bronze medallist at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Komronshokh Ustopiriyon, saying how teahouses in Dushanbe were silenced as they watched the judoka step on to the podium to accept his medal.
“For 16 seconds – I counted – our flag commanded the world’s gaze,” Rumayza wrote. “My desire to attend the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games stems from this moment. I want to function as an active storyteller to preserve stories which would otherwise disappear from memory.”
Rumayza wrote, if she won, that she was looking forward to the moment Kurash – the traditional Tajik wrestling sport – gets showcased in Aichi-Nagoya.
“The world will learn the techniques that our grandparents have passed down through time. Traditional wrestling demonstrates what I find most thrilling about the Asian Games because it shows cultural heritage achieving worldwide recognition.
Rumayza added: “The 16-second experience transformed how I view my life. I aim to watch Tajikistan’s moment of triumph at the Asian Games because I want our stories and all untold narratives from around the world to stay in the global memory beyond the closing ceremony’s conclusion.”
