Tajikistan NOC pushes for more athletes in Tokyo Olympics

The National Olympic Committee of Tajikistan, in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee, will fund 15 athletes in their bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, it was confirmed at the NOC General Assembly on December 29.

The 19th session of the General Assembly of Tajikistan NOC was held in the capital Dushanbe under the chairmanship of the Vice Presidents, Shamsullo Sohibov and Abdullozoda Ahtam.

Members – leaders and representatives of national sports federations – heard that 15 athletes will receive financial support to qualify for the re-scheduled Tokyo Olympics in July-August, 2021.

So far, Tajikistan has secured two Olympic berths in Tokyo through boxers Bakhodur Usmonov in the men’s lightweight division and Shabbos Negmatulloev in men’s light heavyweight class. Both boxers won their Olympic tickets at the Asia and Oceania Olympic qualification tournament in Amman, Jordan last March.

It was also noted that, as part of the Beijing 2022 Athletes’ Financial Support Programme running from November 2019 to February 2022, two skiers, Saifiddin Nizomiddin and Goibov Bakhriddin, will receive a monthly stipend of US$1,500 to help get a ticket to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Among other notable developments in 2020:

• Five training seminars for officials, coaches and judges, and three sports competitions involving around 200 athletes were held by the archery and karate national federations;

• Six training seminars were held by the NOC on gender equality;

• Five seminars of the sports commission were organised and held in five cities and districts;

• With funding from the IOC and instructions of NOC President and Leader of the Nation, Emomali Rahmon, a boarding school for athletes was repaired in the capital;

• With funding from the Olympic Council of Asia, a modern sports ground has been built and is in operation in the Rasht District;

• As part of the Sports Programme for Social Development held on March 14 in cooperation with the Committee for Youth and Sports, more than 143,000 people took part in cycling marathons and races;

• 53 veterans and famous athletes were given awards by the NOC to mark Olympic Day on June 23;

• Almost 145,000 people were involved in Olympic Day events in the parks of the capital;

• The ‘Sport for All’ campaign resulted in more than 5,600 persons taking part in sports competitions in chess, athletics, national wrestling and morning exercises;

• To protect athletes from coronavirus, and help them train at home, the NOC hand-in-hand with federations provided athletes with training equipment;

• The Association of National Olympic Committees and Olympic Solidarity provided US$25,000 to the NOC to help in the fight against COVID-19, with the funds used to purchase sports equipment and send athletes to international competitions.

It was also noted that in 2021, by order of the President of Tajikistan and NOC President Emomali Rahmon, an Olympic Fund will be established.