Polina Guryeva of Turkmekistan celebrates after a carry as she competes within the ladies’s 59kg weightlifting occasion, on the 2020 Summer season Olympics, Tuesday, July 27, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.
Credit score: AP Picture/Luca Bruno
Sparsely populated and remoted from many of the outdoors world, Turkmenistan has lastly received its first Olympic medal since independence from the Soviet Union.
Weightlifter Polina Guryeva received a silver medal for the Central Asian nation on the Tokyo Video games on Tuesday, after which predicted she would go down within the nation’s historical past.
“I used to be in shock as a result of it’s the primary Olympic medal within the historical past of the Turkmen folks. It’s the primary medal, which I received. No sport in Turkmenistan has had a medal, not one medal,” the 21-year-old Guryeva mentioned. “I feel I’ve entered the historical past of Turkmenistan by successful a medal. I’m so in shock.”
Guryeva lifted a complete 217 kilograms within the 59-kilogram class, edging Mikiko Andoh of Japan for second place. Kuo Hsing-Chun of Taiwan received gold by lifting 236 kg.
Guryeva, who calls Kuo her “idol” and copies her coaching workout routines, completed in twenty eighth place on the 2019 world championships whereas competing one weight class larger. On her coach’s recommendation, she used the one-year Olympic delay attributable to the coronavirus pandemic to reset, dropping down a category and coaching more durable than ever.
“When the pandemic started, I didn’t have an opportunity of qualifying,” she mentioned. “In October, I dropped down and began coaching. And I went to the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, lifted 211 whole, after which I bought the prospect to go to the Olympics. After which I began coaching even more durable to get this medal.”
Guryeva will return dwelling to a rustic that has typically had little contact with the surface world however is attempting to carve out a reputation for itself on the planet of sports activities. The gas-rich nation despatched two medalists to the Soviet Union’s Olympic groups for the 1956 and 1960 Video games however success has been uncommon since.
Internet hosting the 2018 weightlifting world championships at a lavish new sports activities advanced within the capital, Ashgabat, was one step towards elevating the nation’s profile. Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, is a fan of biking and the nation was scheduled to carry the monitor biking championships this 12 months, too, however they had been moved due to the pandemic.
The Turkmenistan authorities says it has not had any circumstances of COVID-19 however has made vaccinations necessary.
For Kuo, the victory was about finishing a set of main championship medals. The Taiwanese lifter lastly added Olympic gold to her 4 world titles.
“I’ve all of the items collectively. Now I’m very completely happy,” she mentioned by a translator.
Andoh lifted a complete of 214 kg for bronze regardless of what she later revealed was extreme ache in her ft. When she completed the competitors, she fell to the bottom on stage with a smile and was helped away by her coaches.