Weightlifter Polina Guryeva wins Turkmenistan’s 1st Olympic medal

TOKYO — sparsely populated and remoted from most of the outside international, Turkmenistan has sooner or later won its first Olympic medal on account that independence from the Soviet Union.
Weightlifter Polina Guryeva won a silver medal for the important Asian kingdom at the Tokyo video games on Tuesday and then expected she could go down within the u. S .’s records.
“I used to be in shock because it’s the first Olympic medal in the records of the Turkmen humans. It’s the first medal, which I received.
No sport in Turkmenistan has had a medal, no longer one medal,” the 21-yr-old Guryeva stated.
“I think I have entered the history of Turkmenistan with the aid of prevailing a medal. I’m so in surprise.”
Guryev lifted a complete 217 kilograms in the 59-kilogram class, edging Mikiko Andoh of Japan for the 2nd area. Kuo Hsing-Chun of Taiwan won gold by way of lifting 236kg.
Guryev, who calls Kuo her “idol” and copies her education sporting activities, completed in twenty-eighth place on the 2019 global championships while competing for one weight category higher.
On her train’s advice, she used the one-year Olympic delay resulting from the coronavirus pandemic to reset, losing down a category and schooling more difficult than ever.
“While the pandemic started, I did not have a risk of qualifying,” she said. “
In October, I dropped down and commenced training.
And that I went to the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, lifted 211 general, and then I was given the danger to visit the Olympics.
And then I started out schooling even more difficult to get this medal.”
Guryev will return home to a rustic which has often had little touch with the outside international however is making an attempt to carve out a name for itself in the international of sports activities.
The gasoline-rich nation sent two medalists to the Soviet Union’s Olympic teams for the 1956 and 1960 video games however success has been rare when you consider that.
Web hosting the 2018 weightlifting global championships at a lavish new sports activities complicated within the capital, Ashgabat, changed into one step closer to raising u . S . A .’s profile.
Turkmenistan’s authoritarian president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, is keen on biking and u . S . A . Became scheduled to preserve the song biking championships this 12 months, too, but they have been moved due to the pandemic.
The Turkmenistan authorities say it has now not had any instances of COVID-19 but has made vaccinations obligatory.
For Kuo, the victory changed into approximately finishing a fixed of major championship medals.
The Taiwanese lifter finally delivered Olympic gold to her 4 world titles.
“i have all the portions together. Now I am very happy,” she stated through a translator.
Andoh lifted a complete of 214kg for bronze despite what she later revealed turned into intense pain in her toes. Whilst she completed the opposition, she fell to the ground on a level with a grin and became helped away by way of her coaches.
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Weightlifter Polina Guryeva wins Turkmenistan’s 1st Olympic medal