Sports in Uzbekistan
Many new states provided stadiums, sports, complexes, pools, sports clubs as well as private fitness clubs cater to a great demand for physical exercise. "Sportsman" is a widely used term. Uzbekistan has produced Olympic champions in kickboxing, boxing, wrestling, gymnastics, chess, who brought home medals from Atlanta, Sydney, and Lillehammer.
Dilshod Aripov - world champion wrestling Mahamadkodir Abdullaev, Sergey Mikhailov, Rustam Saidov, Ruslan Chagaev, Artur Grigoryan Olympic and World champions in boxing Iroda Tuliaganova - WTA tennis champion Oksana Chusovitina - world champion gymnastics. Over the centuries, Uzbekistan has had a tradition of fostering equestrians and wrestlers (palvans). Some of the sports that originate in this country are the kurash, a type of upright wrestling, along with belbogli kurash, turon. Other popular sports in Uzbekistan are football (soccer), boxing and sport wrestling. Since its independence in 1991, Uzbekistan has taken part in the Olympic Games with increasing success. Uzbekistan has participated three times in the Summer Olympics, and collected a gold and five bronze medals in boxing, two gold and two silver in wrestling and a silver medal in judo. Their only medal in the Winter Olympics so far came in freestyle skiing in Lillehammer 1994 when Lina Cheryazova won a gold medal in aerials. Some of the most important Uzbekistan sports include Football, Boxing, Rugby and Uloq. The Uzbekistan football team is managed by the Uzbekistan football federation. AFC is the confederation of Uzbekistan football team. Having participated in numerous competitions, it proved its strength in the Asian Games in 1994, having won the victory title. It is considered to be the strongest team among the Central Asian nations like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
Horse sport competition “kopkari” or “uloq” is equally close to all Turk speaking nations of the region such as Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Turkmen. Kopkari is the competition of horsemen. It is usually held in honour of big holidays or weddings at the end of the feast.
Kopkari is struggle, that is lead by a skilled horseman to win the race with certain conditions. Usually in the kopkari competition the referee throws to the middle of the pitch carcass of the goat filled with salt which is called uloq. This carcass is pressed by horseman’s leg to saddle. Horseman should race through his rivals in the pitch and be first to bring the carcass to the appointed spot. Horsemen can compete in groups and divide the prize among each other. The prizes can be a TV, a carpet, national overcoat, a cattle or some amount of money. The most nimble dzhigit (skilled horseman) on a strong and swift-footed horse picks up the thrown goat. As a rule he is surrounded by friends or fellow-villagers to protect and assist him from the competitors till the finish line. Horsemen handed down the secrets of correct feeding and training of fast horses across the generations. During the World War II some horses trained for racing in kopkari made incredible deeds. However, kopkari is a peaceful game which has played a significant role in the education and formation of strong men. At present it is still organized in several districts of Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya, Samarkand and Bukhara regions. It has become a good tradition to organize the kopkari on the conventions of farmers, gardeners, cotton growers, Navruz holiday as well as in harvest festivals. The traditions of old horsemen and runners is being restored again. This is very important that one of the ancient interesting game traditions is revived and is experiencing a new stage of its development.
See: Tour MTH 04 — Navrouz in Uzbekistan — 10 days / 9 nights
