Today is Left Handed Day

As I listened to the Global News podcast from the BBC, I wasn’t sure if I could believe what I was hearing … in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, a Gay Canadian comedian was leading a Ginger Pride Parade as part of the Fringe … it has to be a joke, I thought … but no, even though it might well have been an instrument for promoting his show, Ginger Nation, at the Edinburgh Festival, apparently it also had a serious point.  (You can hear the report here.)

As far as I am aware, there is no such thing as a International Day for Redheads … although I am sure that will come as a lot of Minority Groups are now adopting such a day to celebrate their otherness, to give support to members of their community and raise awareness of the issues that affect them in the wider population.

For the record, however. there Redhead Day: a Dutch summer festival that takes place each first weekend of September in the city of Breda, in the Netherlands, … so maybe I’ll return to this subject then …

In the meantime, today is the international day adopted by another minority group: Left Handers.

The day was established by the Left Handers Club in 1992, (a couple of years after the club was founded), and it has been marked every year since then on 13th August as a celebration of their distinctiveness and an opportunity to raise awareness of the both the advantages and the disadvantages of being left handed.

As they say on their website - for 364 days of the year, Left Handers fit in with home and office layouts designed for right-handers’ comfort – put up with doors, cookers, sinks, computer mice, keyboards and desks that are efficient for right-handers to work at, and hundreds of times every day they have to contort themselves using back-to-front tools and gadgets that make them look clumsy and awkward in their efforts to make them to work …, but on this one day of the year they can celebrate their distinctiveness and declare their personal space as a “Lefty Zone“.

The term Left Handed is not precisely defined anywhere … but in common parlance it refers to people who habitually, or more readily, use their left hand to perform everyday tasks than their right hand.

Technically speaking – although we might be tempted to think of there being two kinds of people: Righthanded and lefthanded – people who tend to prefer the use of either their right or their left hands to perform manual tasks … there are in fact two other categories: mixed handed, (where different hands are preferred for the completion of different tasks … for some tasks the right hand but for others the left … President Garfield, for example, is reputed to be able to write Greek with the left hand and Latin with the right), and ambidextrous, (where the person can perform any task equally well with either hand).

About one in eight of the population are left-handed, but nobody knows why although there are several competing theories … ranging from the division of labour between the hemispheres of the brain to genetic factors inherited from the parents – but one study found that although there was a correlation with one particular gene in women, there was a negative correlation amongst men – to a combination of genes and environmental factors – perhaps some trauma during pregnancy or in birth – for example linked to ultrasound or levels of testosterone, or premature births.

There has been quite a lot of research into how our handedness affects us … if you can believe all of it, it turns out that:

• there is a correlation between handedness and certain medical conditions – such as alcholism, arthritis, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, (ADHD), autism, Crohn’s disease, dyslexia, mood disorders, schizophrenia, stutters and ulcerative colitis.
• there seems to be some connection between handedness and creative talent … divergent thinking and so on
• left handed people are greater represented among our elected leaders than the proportion in the general population … there have been, for example, eight of the forty four American Presidents were left handed – if you count Ronald Reagan who, like so many others before him, had it “beaten” out of him as a child.  (In the past lefthanded children might be spanked in school and chastised at home for being different, their left hands would be tied behind their backs, in an effort to force them to write with their “correct” hand. )
• left handers are also well represented in sports …
•  lefthanders may die as many as nine years earlier than right-handers
• left handers hear speeches differently than people who are right handed
• there is apparently some evidence that left handers tend to feel some emotions, (such as anger, embarrassment and fear), more strongly than right handers

There have also been attempts to research if there is any correlation between handedness and topics such as incomes earned, IQ, mathematical ability, musical ability and  sexual orientation.

Surprisingly enough, archaeologists tell us that the preference for right handedness is not just limited to humans … apparently Neanderthals were also predominantly right handed.  On the other hand, some research suggests that among cats, rats, and mice handedness seems to be equally split between right- and left-pawedness

Over the years, lefthandedness has been seen as: a mark of the devil; a sign of neurosis, rebellion, criminality, and homosexuality an indication of creativity and musical abilities … or simply as a “nasty habit”.

We can see some interesting lexical influences: for example, the Latin term for left, “sinister“, can be interpreted in modern English as meaning “evil”; “menacing”; or “threatening”.  In English the word left comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lyft, which means weak or broken. No less an authority than The Oxford English Dictionary defines left-handed as meaning crippled, defective, awkward, clumsy, inept, characterized by underhanded dealings, ambiguous, doubtful, questionable, ill-omened, inauspicious, and illegitimate.  In German the term for “left-handed’ is linkisch, which means awkward, clumsy, and maladroit. In Italian, the word is mancino, which is derived from “crooked” or “maimed” (mancus) and is also used to mean deceitful or dishonest. In Russian, to be called a left-hander (levja) is a term of insult.

It’s not all bad news however.  The Incas, for example, thought lefthanders had healing powers and possessed magical abilities whilst at least one North American tribe believed lefthandedness signified good luck.

This list of prominent lefthanders, on the other hand, is quite impressive – it is predominantly American orientated and I have to admit that there are many people of whom I have never heard …  but there ere also many that could be considered “instantly recognizable” names.

It would be nice to round this postcard off with a Kyrgyz connection, such as a legend like the story of Ehud the Benjamite in the book of Judges, (go and look it up … if you dare), but I am afraid I’ve draw a blank in my research apart from the following:

• in Kyrgyz tradition – as in Medieval Europe –  evil spirits were thought of as operating through the left hand, so one is never offered the left hand to shake – or anything using the left hand,
• children who are lefthanded are encouraged, like Ronald Reagan, to  become  right-handed;
• the only prominent lefthander that I can find any reference to is Orzubek Nazarov, a Southpaw (left handed) boxer who a Bronze medal at the 1986 World Amateur Championships in Reno … and Gold at the 1987 European Championships in Turin.  He was born in Kant on 30th August, 1966 and after his successes in the Amateur ring turned Professional in 1990 and three years later won the title as WBA Lightweight Champion which he successfully defended five times.  Eye problems plagued him, however, and after losing a bout in France he retired from the ring although he is still active today in the administration of the sport as a member of the Asian Boxing Confederation’s Executive Committee.

So … Happy Left-Handers Day! … and if you’re right handed, (like me), even if you don’t encounter an “official” Lefty Zone … try and see how well you can cope doing some everyday tasks using your left hand … it’s an eye opener! … and it will give you an idea of how difficult it can be for someone to who has to try and “fit in” and “cope” in a world that appears to be totally alien – and designed for “other people”.

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Daniyar Duldaev : Photo from Vecherniye Bishkek

One of the inspirations behind my Postcard from Bishkek is the 15-minute weekly radio broadcast Letter from America by Alistair Cooke.

It ran for 2,869 broadcasts from 24 March 1946 to 20 February 2004, making it the longest-running speech radio programme in history and became a part of my regular routine as I would listen to the Sunday morning routine, doing the weekly ironing.

Each week, Cooke would speak of a topical issue about life in the USA, often tying together different strands of observation and anecdote, frequently ending on a humorous or poignant note.

Cooke was an ardent sports fan.  His favourite sports were Golf and Tennis and he used to be ribbed about the amount of coverage he gave to these two sports although he maintained that he restricted himself to just one mention of each a year.  Today might well have been the occasion for one of those mentions as it is the anniversary of the the premier international team event in men’s tennis: The Davis Cup.

The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States and nowadays over 13o countries enter teams to compete for the prestigious trophy, Kyrgyzstan being one of them, although having played just nine matches.  Whilst our neighbours Kazakhstan are ranked 8th in the Davis cup rankings and Uzbekistan at 22nd, Kyrgyzstan lags behind somewhat, down at 118th place with just six points.

Daniyar Duldaev, however, might help to change that.  The twenty year old is Kyrgyzstan’s highest ranking tennis player and, currently ranked at 869, the first to enter the top 1000 players in the world.  In the last year he actually rose 1000 places in the rankings and at one point made it up to 827th place but he has problems in taking part in competitions where he can gain ranking points.  Most of his matches to date have been in tournaments in other CIS countries – and to progress further he will need to travel further afield, and play all year round.

Becoming the Kyrgyz Men’s Champion at the age of 14, (playing against adults), he was apparently courted by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russian to play for them but he decided that he wanted to play for Kyrgyzstan.  Just two years later rose to 162nd in the world rankings for his age group and in December last year, he competed in the Asian Championship in Thailand reaching the quarter finals in the singles competition.

He says that for him, the main thing in his life is Tennis.  That’s just as well.  It has needed a lot of dedication to progress as far as he has.  Although he has attracted some sponsorship, Tennis is not a traditional sport here and whilst there has been some support from the State Agency for Physical Culture and Sports, he says that, (when it comes to State support), priority tends to be given to sports like wrestling, boxing and judo.  He was introduced to the sport at an early  by his father, who now acts as his coach and manager, and his family are his main support as he goes from country to country, playing four or five tournaments in each one to economize on things like travelling expenses.

 For the record: We heard yesterday that the Women’s team playing in the Asia and Oceania Group of the Federation Cup which has been taking place in Astana, and they managed to beat Iran and Pakistan … but lost their matches against Malaysia and Indonesia … even so, that’s quite an achievement and lets hope that it may be a signal that it’s not just Daniyar Duldaev who carries the torch for Kyrgyzstan in this sport and there may be some more names to watch out for in the future.

As well as Daniyar, there are other things from Kyrgyzstan to watch out for …

This week, for example, there have been a number of stories that have kept the media busy.  I suppose that the biggest story, at least in terms of it’s potential impact on the country’s economy, was that Kumtor have published their response to the Parliamentary Commission which sought to impose sanctions on the mining company for alleged infringements of environmental regulations, renegotiating the investment agreement with the Canadian company, reorganizing the company in a way that looks suspiciously like nationalization … but under a different name and investigation the officials who signed the original agreements.   Not surprisingly they reject the criticisms out of hand … consider them to be overstated at best or completely wrong at worst.  They say that the investment agreement takes precedence over any Kyrgyz law, (which is a bit of moot point as far as I can see – and won’t go down very well here).

At least both sides have now stated their positions and are ready to talk … let’s hope that the talks prove to be more constructive than some others over the Falkland Islands that were supposed to have taken place in London this week – before the Argentinian Foreign Minister pulled out saying that William Hague refused to take part … or, at least, that’s how I understood the news reports I have seen.  I think there is a good chance that the approach to these will be more positive – because it is in nobody’s interest to take this all the way down to the line.

Kumtor have certainly been continuing to make plans as if they intend to be here for some time … with announcements of various programmes for ecological protection, supporting a sanctuary for snow leopards and other  snow leopard and other “non-commercial” projects.  Of course, that could just be a cynical PR exercise, but I don’t think so.

Anyway, it’s a story to keep an eye on.

If I was being cynical, then there another example of what looks like a PR exercise – this time emerging from the Americans … who are presumably still looking at the potential use of Manas airport as a logistitical and transit hub – after all, the ambassador let it drop that discussions between the two sides about what happens after the withdrawal from Afghanistan next year haven’t even begun yet.

The military, for example, have funded a series of training manuals for Kyrgyz teachers … but I hope they have a better follow up planned for this example of sponsorship than for a previous one.  Apparently they paid for the refurbishment and equipping of a Women’s Refuge in one of the towns outside Bishkek – and spent most of their Humanitarian Budget on it.  It was “opened” with a big fanfare, with visiting dignitaries and representatives of the media … and then handed over to the local partners … but it emerged some six months later than the center had never actually “opened” and was not being used; the “local partner” was focused on other issues – albeit directed at improving the situation for women entrepreneurs, but such charitable projects was not one of them.

Then there was the news that the Americans are giving some seventeen  million dollars worth of medicines to Kyrgyzstan.  Now, that will go down well, especially as the parliament has just voted to impose VAT on medicines … imposing a “tax on illness” was how I heard one accountant describe the decision.

And that’s just two examples of philanthropy

Mitt Romney may have lost the Presidential election, but one of the issues he did raise was the effective use of America’s aid budget … which made the analytical comments in the international press asking, just what is America’s interest here in Central Asia all the more interesting and apposite.  The link with the fight against the drugs trade might well be another prong in America’s approach … but they seem in competition with the Russians there, (who have a direct interest in the issue).

Anyway, that’s another story to keep an eye on.

All the world’s largest countries all seem to be showing considerable interest in Kyrgyzstan (and Central Asia as a whole at the moment), in this twenty first century version of the Great Game.  The US is the fourth biggest country in the world, Canada the third – and the both China, (the second) and Russia, (the largest), are also competing for influence.

One analysis suggested that where they are definitely competing, at least its not on the military front … but they are both heavily involved in the economy and infrastructure projects.

China continues to make inroads, especially into the transport network.  The feasibility study for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway was delivered this week, and they even though the cost has skyrocketed to something like four billion dollars, they still keen to finance it – albeit for some quid-pro-quo.  The government seem to think that it will be making hundreds of millions of profit within a very short space of time … but I am not sure if it’s clear how much of that will find its way into the budget or even stay here in Kyrgyzstan.

The decision is not without its critics, however … and the argument that a North South route, (linking the Chu and Ferghana valleys), is a far more logical step forward has been getting quite a bit of coverage.

As an aside: it was announced during the week that last year Kyrgyz railways carried over half a million passengers … which isn’t bad when you consider how small the rail network is … apparently most of them were carried on the three day trip between Bishkek and Moscow.  That struck me as quite an impressive statistic.

The Chinese  have also  provided three aircraft to Kyrgyzstan – two of them on a lease and the third was a gift.

As an aside – you know how I love statistics – it seems that last year there were 20,000 international flights that passed through Manas – that’s about 400 a week, or 60 a day, so I presume that includes those passing in and out of the transit center.  It will be interesting to compare that figure with the number in 2015 and 2016 after the withdrawal from Afghanistan … that’s definitely a story to keep an eye on.

Russia, of course, has a lot of Central Asians, (especially Kyrgyz and Tajiks), employed as migrant workers, and their remittances back to their families is a great boost to the local economy.  Recent developments, however, suggest that this bubble may be about to burst or least fizzle out.  The new rules that require migrant workers to pass a language test and have knowledge about the host country is causing some problems and even the Orthodox Church has stepped in holding special classes for would be migrant workers,  Then there was the news of migrant workers possibly being “exploited”, for example – on the construction of sites for the Winter Olympics in Sochi … being paid 600 rubles a day but then being “fined” 1000 or 1500 rubles for missing a day because they are sick.  Obviously, I can’t vouch for accuracy of the accusations, but it is certainly a story that is going to crop up again and again in the future and we need to keep an eye on.

As it happens, the Kyrgyz are getting even more strident on the question of language.  I have mentioned before the new rule that advertising hoardings will only be allowed to display text in the State language,  (Kyrgyz), or the official one, (Russian), and will not be allowed to use anything other than the Cyrillic language.  So, when it was announced that the local authority had conducted a raid and dismantled a whole host of advertising hoardings, it was natural to assume that this was probably connected with this new innovation, (please excuse the tautology).  However, although some of them were dismantled because of language, it seems to have been a much more mundane and bureaucratic issue … the vast majority seemed to be that the owners hadn’t obtained the necessary permits!

It’s not just the big countries that are taking an interest in us.  Our neighbour, Uzbekistan, is never far from the headlines.

Both the local  and international media have been carrying stories about the possible extradition of a mullah to Uzbekistan.  He’s lived here for almost twenty years and the Uzbeks have now made a formal request for him.  He doesn’t seem to be that worried by some accounts, but Human Rights Watch have sent an open letter to the President urging that the extradition should not take place as, they say, he will face torture if he does go back.

A refusal would, probably, not go down well in Tashkent … but relations between Bishkek and Tashkent have had been on a roller coaster ride for some time.  The issues go back a long way, much further than the “recent” incidents in June 2010, followed by the events in the Sokh enclave last month.  At least some of the border crossings are now open having closed following the latest outburst.  The government have said that they want to try and sort out the question of  disputed borders by the end of the year and Ministers have been instructed to put into effect as a matter of urgency measures to develop the border areas of the remote Batken oblast.

There might be some more thorny problems on the horizon, particularly over the management of water resources – I have been hearing talk about this ever since I first came here in 1995 – and hydroelectric projects which the Russians are also keen on developing … another are of growing influence in the region.  There was an attempt to try and get talks started on the next steps but it seems that the Uzbeks are being intransigent and refusing to participate … which sounds familiar – Like talks between Britain and Argentina over the Falklands.

However, there were a couple of bright spots in the relationships between the two countries this week.  It was President Karimov’s birthday and Almazbek Atambaev sent him a congratulatory message … President to President … birthdays a re pretty big here.  Anyway, President Karimov sent a reply saying, “Thank you for the Congratulations”.  As one tweet put it: “How polite!” … but I think the author author was being sarcastic which took the shine off the news.

The second was a report that an MP had suggested that President Karimov might be interested in selling the Sokh enclave to Kyrgyzstan, for 1.5 or 2 billion dollars.   He didn’t say on what he based his comments – was it wishful thinking?, or has a little bird whispered in his ear?  It seems very odd to me … but even if it were true, I can’t see how Kyrgyzstan could raise the money to seal the deal.  This all led to the speculation that a land swap might be arranged instead … apparently something like this has been on the table before … but, judging by the way officials are likely to be under investigation – for example for signing documents with Kumtor –  I think officials might be, understandably, a little reluctant to sign such a deal.  Remember, it was similar land swaps with Kazakhstan and, particularly,  China that started the public expressions of dissatisfaction with the Akaev regime! … and we know how that story unfolded … So, that’s definitely another story to keep an eye on!

Another story that has hogged the headlines this week has the mass desertion of thirty nine soldiers who left their post gaurding the Presidential Residence on the Southern outskirts of Bishkek.  According to public statements made by some of them, it was done to draw attention to the unreasonableness of their officers.  There were several surprising things about this … tapart from the fact that they were supposed to be protecting the compound which houses the homes of the President, government Ministers and other VIPs, these weren’t new recruits trying to come to terms with life in the army – such as bullying, which is supposedly rife in the services and videos showing examples have even been posted on youtube – just as they appear to be in Russia, the UK and America if the stories we read in the papers are anything to go by.   (Apparently more American serving in the armed forces committed suicide last year than were killed in action).

The army started searching for them straight away – apparently receiving the assistance of some the relatives – and within a couple of days they were all back in barracks.  They had been warned before they caught or gave themselves up that the Prosecutor General’s office would be looking into the case and there would be punishments … maybe they think that public opinion is likely to be on their side …

Actually, there has been quite a debate about the role of the military – especially since the trial of the soldiers on duty during the revolution in April 2010 – who are now being tried for abuse of power and executing “illegal orders” by firing into the crowds.   There was a very long and powerful piece published by one of the news agencies that delved into the conflict of obligations faced by serving military and provided alot of food for thought,

Being involved in business, stories about tax always attract my attention.  This week there have been several stories ranging from the news that, in addition to the companies involved in food processing being exempted from Profit tax that I mentioned last week, now farmers are to be exempted from paying income tax.

There was also the news that the introduction of universal tax declarations that everyone was going to have to file with the authorities as from March this year is to be delayed – until 2014 at the earliest – and probably until 2015.  At the moment companies have to file, public servants and foreigners – for example, me … but the forms are considered to be too complicated for the average citizen, the official are not trained – and there probably aren’t enough of them, to deal with the flood of data.  I am not sure what was most surprising about the news – the fact that the head of the tax service, himself is against the measure – at least at the present time – or the fact that there has been a bit of an outcry about it being postponed.  ”How are we to combat corruption and the shadow economy if we don’t introduce such measures?”, those protesting the decision ask.  ”How will we ever know if the forms are too complicated if we don’t try? – There should at least be a trial or pilot system” they add.

In terms of the fight against corruption and the shadow economy, there have been yet more arrests of officials caught in the act of asking for and accepting bribes, or misusing their position of authority to place orders with family and friends.

As an aside, a new law has been proposed which would prohibit serving police office from participating in protest meetings, (when they are supposed to be on duty), or from having their own businesses.

There have also been a series of “raids” on businesses such as car washes and Billiard Halls, to ensure that the right amount of tax has been collected.

The other BIG story this week has concerned pedophilia … If it sounds like the Jimmy Saville case simply being transported to Central Asia, its not – even though it has been arousing the same sort of fervour, emotion and media attention.   Apparently there has been a significant rise in the number of cases investigated by the police – I was shocked when I head the figures, espcially given the fact that is a small country – and a law has been proposed that would introduce Chemical Castration as a punishment for anyone sexually assaulting a child.  One deputy has balked at this … especially at the cost, (apparently something USD6000 a year for each case, and he asks why society), including the victim’s parents, should have to foot the bill.  He also wonders what happens if they miss their monthly injection for some reason or another.  Instead, he suggests, physical castration should be applied.  There has, however, been some criticism of this approach, especially concerning the possibility of miscarriages of justice and the irreversibility of the measure.

There were some other stories that caught my eye during the week that I thought I would pass on:

Once again it has been suggested that a number of ministries should be transfer out of Bishkek and relocated in Osh.  I say once again because this has been suggested several times before.  Although  several ministries and agencies have a regional office in the South,  I think that the only administrative headquarters of a Republican body that has actually been relocated is the Border Guards.

We have been warned that February is likely to be a severe month in terms of the weather.  The forecast is for lower than usual temperatures and unseasonal weather such as fog.  Oddly enough, we’ve had several days of quite mild weather this week, although, I have to admit, it has been somewhat chilly.

Then there was the news that the Historical Museum is proposing to dismantle its displays which are dedicated to Lenin, and move them to another location and the creation of a special Lenin Museum … they are considered too valuable to simply discard …  because they don’t tell the story of Kyrgyzstan.   In a way I think this is regrettable … the Historical Museum is famous for the hagiography of it’s displays, (eleven sculptures depicting scenes like the Battleship Potemkin and Krasnaya Presnya, and its ceiling murals), and it will be a pity to lose that.  I suppose, however, that a lot depends on what they put in its place, (they shouldn’t, for example, simply forget the Soviet period), and how they preserve the displays in their new home.

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

• Crossing Torugart - At the moment, those people wanting to travel the Silk Road overland, they basically have to travel through Kyrgyzstan and the most frequent route takes them across the Torugart Pass - 03/02/13
• Facebook - On February 4th, 2004, a new social networking site was launched that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos : Facebook, which has become the leading social networking platform here in Kyrgyzstan – 4/02/13
• The Family Frunze - to mark the anniversary of the change of name to Bishkek from Frunze, I took a look at the members of the relatives of the General – 05/02/13
•  Samsa - an example of typical “Street Food” here in Kyrgyzstan – 06/02/13
• Kambar – the first Komuzist - the legend of Kambar, who is supposed to have invented the archetypal Kyrgyz musical instrument: The Komuz – 07/02/13
•  Locked in - a description of how I found myself locked in the office when the key broke off in the lock – and how I eventually released myself … just another day – 08/02/13

It is now possible to follow me on Facebook, (where I have specific pages for Celestial Mountains and ianbek … and also links.kg and Kyrgyz Diary), and on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialMTC ).

Britain may have eventually have come in third place in the medal table, but Russia, in fourth, actually won more medals – 82.  It always strikes me as odd the way that the table is sorted first by the number  of Gold medals, then by the number of silver and finally by the number of  bronze medals … which means that a country with just one gold medal, (for example, Algeria, the Bahamas, Grenada, Uganda and Venezuela), ranks higher up the final table than one which has six or seven medals but missed out on any first place Gold medals, (for example Inda who won six medals).

For the record: Although it probably helped being the host country that has not always been the case.  The host country topped the table in Atlanta (1996), Beijing (2008), Berlin (1936), London (1908), Los Angeles (both in 1932 and 1984), Moscow (1980), Paris (1900) and St. Louis (1904) when the highest ever medal tally was scored by the USA, which is nine times out of thirty summer games – with the other games being more or less divided between the USA and the former USSR.  On the other hand, it didn’t help Canada when the games were hosted by Montreal in 1976 – although they managed to win 11 medals, they didn’t win a single Gold.

In the 1908 games which was hosted by London, Great Britain topped the medals table with 146 of the 323 medals available, including 56 Gold medals, 51 Silver and 39 Bronze; several weird and wonderful sports and  the only ever walkover in the history of the games, mind you – they had almost a third of of all the competitors.  The last time they hosted the games, in 1948, they had just under 10% of the competitors but they were only able to garner 23 of the 411 medals, and only three of them were gold medals.

It became clear, on the other hand, that Kyrgyzstan was not going to add to its horde of Olympic medals: a Silver and two Bronze.

For the record:  Kyrgyzstan has appeared in five Summer Games,  (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012) and five Winter Games, (1994, 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2010), but has won just three medals:

2000 Sydney – Judo – Men’s 60 kg - Aidyn Smagulov- Bronze
2008 Beijing - Greco-RomanWrestling - 66 kg - Kanatbek Begaliev - Silver
2008 Beijing -Greco-RomanWrestling - 60 kg - Ruslan Tiumenbaev - Bronze

Indeed it began to look as if, this time around, Kyrgyzstan was not going to find itself among the eighty odd countries that get onto the final Medals table at all.

Of course, everyone hopes to be a winner, but not everybody can be.  Sebastian Coe, who headed the London bid for the Games must understand that – having been so bitterly disappointed to be beaten into the silver medal position in the 800m race in the 1980 Mo0scow games, and equally the delight at winning the Gold in the 1500m race a few days later.  Oh, there were lots of of other pressures and influences on him and his chief rival, Steve Ovett, at the time … but I remember the contrasting photographs …

One year there was a special project – photographing not just the ecstasy of victory but also the pain and misery of defeat … coming in second, or third … or fourth and thus missing out on any medal recognition.

It has to be admitted that most of the 10,000 plus competitors must be under no illusions – they must be aware that there is little or no chance of them being a medal winner … but they still want to take part and, ( with a few notable exceptions this year), try their utmost to perform at the best that they are capable of achieving.  This year the BBC ran an interesting feature on the motivation of these “also rans”.

Unfortunately, most of the Kyrgyzstan athletes this year fell into this category.  Some of them appeared to have hopes of winning a medal, and that was reflected in the hopes and interest shown in them here in Kyrgyzstan.

Team KG for London 2012 had been comprised of fourteen sportsmen:

• Athletics
• Julia Andreevna (Arhipova) - Women’s Marathon
• Erzhan Askarov - Men’s 800m
• Free Style Wrestling
• Magomed Musaev - 96kg
• Greco-Roman Wrestling 
• Arsen Eraliev - 55kg
• Danyar Kobonov – 74kg (and the Team Captain)
• Judo 
• Yuri Krakovetsky -  100kg
• Chinghiz Mamedov 90kg
• Sailing
• Ilya Ignatiev – Laser Class
• Shooting 
• Ruslan Ismailov - Air Rifle 10m and Rifle 50m, 3 positions
• Swimming 
• Dimitry Alexandrov - 200m Breast Stroke
• Daria Talanova - 200m Breast Stroke 
•  Taekwando
• Rasul Abduraim - 80kg
• Weightlifting
• Bekzat Osmonoliev - 62kg (who also served as the Flag bearer in the opening ceremony)
• Women’s Wrestling 
• Aisulu Tynybekova –  63kg

I think that it is worth listing their names yet again because it needs to be recognized that, even those that didn’t manage to win a medal, they had all made a considerable achievement in qualifying to participate in the Olympics in the first place.  As well as the commitment and training, which will have involved sacrifices and expenses, time and commitment as well as meeting certain thresholds … not to mention the necessity of being able to cope psychologically and emotionally with being one of the “also rans” … especially if they had really been a potential medallist. Not all of them were really potential medallists, of course, although funny things do happen in sport and you never can tell how things might turn out …

The great medal hope had been in the martial arts where Kyrgyzstan already has a record and reputation.  Hoping to capitalize on the record in the Greco-Roman wrestling competition, the competitors had performed reasonably well in the tournaments leading up to the games.  However, both the men lost in the bronze medal bouts of their respective competitions.  Likewise, both the Judo contestants were also eliminated in the early rounds of their competitions.

Aisulu Tynybekova had received a fair amount of attention, both in the West, where press reports hailed her as one of Kyrgyzstan’s medal hopefuls in the relatively unknown sport of Women’s Wrestling.  Womens Wrestling is so uncommon, they reported, that she had difficulty finding anyone to train with and so had to train with the men.  Time had even included her in its list of athletes to watch, but in the end she also fell in her first bout.  She had attracted a lot of attention here as well, largely due to an incident in one of the city centre underpasses where, (depending on whose account you accept), someone was in a bad mood, looking for trouble, pushing their weight around … or something … she complained to one of the local newspapers that people are always trying to “provoke” her.

Anyway, during the ensuing fracas which apparently lasted just seconds, another girl was “beaten” and ended up hospitalized.  The girls mother took the case to court, suing the athlete and submitting a claim for half a million som in damages.  Faced with accusations that she was simply trying to cash-in on the possibility of Olympic cash, she withdrew the claim and Tynybekova was allowed to leave for the Games, but the case resumes later this week.

By all accounts, her appearance at the Games lasted longer than the fracas by the ice cream stall – but not by that much – taking just two of the three possible rounds of 120 seconds before she was also eliminated.  Apparently she hasn’t commented, but her coach had no doubt that the affair had taken its toll and not simply affected but been detrimental to her performance.

Hopes of a medal were kept alive “right down to the wire”, to the last possible moment as Magomed Musaev, in the Free Style Wrestling was slated to compete on the very last day of the games – before the Closing Ceremony.

The football competition may well have kicked off before the official opening ceremony, but nothing was due to happen after “the Fat Lady sings” and the curtain falls on the closing ceremony.

For the record: the “fat lady” is a reference to Brunhilde in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, the last of the immensely long, four-opera Ring Cycle, who has ten minute solo which brings the opera to it’s final conclusion.  Thank you Inspector Morse for teaching me that little piece of trivia.

In the end  … Musaev managed to progress to the Quarter Finals … but got knocked out of the competition by Reza Mohammad Ali Yazdani from Iran.   

There had been a fair amount of comment in the (Western) press about the rate of return on investment when it came to preparing for the Olympics … with comparisons countries that had managed to achieve greater returns, (like Britain in the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis  who managed to walk away with 2 medals, having been represented by just three athletes – although two of those were actually from Ireland …), with those who had “underachieved” – like Canada at the Montreal Olympics. There was some speculation in the (Western) Press about how a country could maximise it’s medal potential by: (for example),

• concentrate on events where individuals compete,  avoiding team events – where you need a larger pool of available talent.  You also save on expenses for specialist equipment, travel expenses and so on;
• concentrate on sports which have minimal equipment requirements, thus minimising costs involved;
• concentrate on minority sports – sports which do not attract large numbers of potential competitors – hence reducing the competition;
• concentrate on sports which offer two bronze medals, like some of the combat sports such as: Judo, Wrestling.

Although this sounds a little cynical, it happens to provide a fairly good description of the Olympic teams of several small states, such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.  Indeed it worked out very well to varying degrees for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.  (Kazakhstan won a total of 13 medals: seven Golds, one in Athletics, another in boxing, a third in Cycling and four in Weightlifting; as well as a silver in Boxing and five Bronze, two Boxing and three in wrestling; Uzbekistan won 4 medals: a gold in Wrestling, and three bronze medals – one each in Weightlifting, Boxing Wrestling; and Tajikistan who won a Bronze in Boxing) …  but not for Kyrgyzstan.

Incidentally, I wonder if any of the athletes who managed to win one of the Gold medals might be tempted to take the IOC, (the International Olympics Committee), or the London organisers of the games to court for “misrepresentation”.  Apparently the Gold Medals, produced by the Royal Mint for the occasion, are not “golden” at all, well practically … something like 6 grams of gold are used to plate the disc which is about eight and a half centimetres in diameter and 7mm thick), and which weighs about 250 grams – the rest is made up of  copper, (just over 6%) and silver, (over 90%).  The medal itself is worth about five hundred dollars, but if it was made of pure gold it would be worth about a thousand dollars.

This year’s medals are actually quite big … the design is usually left to the host city and in some cases the designs have quite distinctive.  All the medals for the summer games, except those of 1900 – which were rectangular, have been circular, whereas designs for the Winter games have been more adventurous involving different shape and materials, (for example, inlaid glass, granite or ceramics).

Although winning is not supposed to be the most important thing, (which is supposed to be the “taking part”), many countries offer incentives to help, encourage and spur their athletes on.   In Singapore, a gold medal winner was awarded a prize of 800,000 dollars.  An American athlete on the other hand would be awarded just 25,000 dollars.  Kyrgyzstan, it appears, offered the third highest prizes … anyone winning a Gold Medal would also receive a prize of 200,000 dollars. A Silver medal would have netted 150,000 dollars and a Bronze, 100,000.

For the record: Smagulaov, who won Kyrgyzstan’s first Bronze medal in the 2000 games, was presented with a four roomed apartment in Bishkek.

It was not just medal winners who would have benefited, however, as prizes had been earmarked for anyone who managed to come in the top eight for any event and as some of the Wrestlers made it to the play for the Br0nze medal – I presume that they will be beneficiaries.   Fourth place brings 35,000 dollars, fifth: 30,000, sixth: 25,000, seventh: 210,000 and eighth: 15,000.  There were rewards allocated for trainers as well:  70% of the prize for the individual sportsman for Chief Trainers or 50% for Personal Trainers.

Those proposed payments have proved to be a little controversial because the Ministry of Finance also proposed some changes to the pension regime … reducing the payments made to pensioners who continue to work.  The suggestion did not go down well and a vox pop  survey was scathing about how difficult it was for pensioners to survive on what they receive from the Social Fund.

Oh … and then there is tax to pay on those winnings – although I am not sure if the medal itself is taxable, as it is in both the US and the UK.  Earlier this year there was a move to exempt prize money won in international competitions from tax – but it hasn’t yet gone through the legislative process and I am not sure of the current status of the proposal, or if it would apply to these awards which are not part of the official prizes.   The “value of an Olympic medal” can be seen in many different ways, some of them financial, others material and not forgetting those which are more intangible:

• the cost of the medal itself,
• the value of the prize money won by the athletes …
• the investment required in order to create a winning performance.  (It is estimated, for example, that every gold medal won by British athletes will have involved an investment of  something like USD15 million – creating facilities; providing equipment; paying trainers and doctors;)
• the time and commitment invested by the athlete themselves in their training

That’s in addition to the general value of taking part in the Olympics, to the sportsmen themselves, the sport in the country and to the country as a whole, to which a medal will bring additional value:

• the increased opportunities for future development, sponsorship and so forth
• the status if brings to the country
• the status it brings to that particular sport in the country … one of the themes of this years Olympics was to ”inspire a generation”
• the personal status and standing of the sportsman in their home community and their sport;
• the experience gained by those participating in the event which can be transferred to others, to other events and circumstances  - illustrating the basic principle of NLP, (Neuro-Linguistic Programming),  the value of learning from experience, (that “there is no such thing as a waste of time or a bad experience “).

Even before the games were over, some of the local press seemed to have caught one of the British diseases and turned on their sporting heroes.  We see it all the time with Football players, Cricketers, Rugby players, stars of the Tennis courts and so on … we build them up as great heroes but at the first sign of a setback the press seems to turn on them and scathingly deride each and every mistake or fall from grace.  Well, on Wednesday, an article appearing which analysed “the collapse of Kyrgyz Sport” as illustrated by the performance of Kyrgyz athletes in the London Olympics.

It began with a summary of the results to date and painted a sorry picture. To be fair, the author also pointed out that the games were not over and there were still opportunities for Kyrgyz athletes to be score successes.  Also, on the whole the analysis was not directed as criticism against the athletes themselves  … however, the tone of the article was very definitely that: “the overall results of the national team is already clear”. The author went on to quote local sporting celebrities who decried the fact that:

• there is no mass support for sport in the Republic,
• which may well be because we have no outstanding sportsmen, (like there were in the 1970′s and 80′s – in the days of the Soviet Union);
• also there is a dearth of qualified coaches;
• many of the facilities are old and obsolete;
• there are problems of finance, there is not enough to pay for the training facilities, travel expenses to events or to pay the sportsmen a stipend.  Last week the Judo Federation announced that they were actively looking for sponsors – or else they might have to “sell” their two top athletes to Kazakhstan, (at first I thought the article was saying something like “risk losing” these athletes but the text clearly says “prodat” – to sell).  They complained that with only official funding, payments are delayed to the last moment, so tickets cannot be bought in advance … and, often, disbursements are insufficient to meet the cost;
• there is a lack of support for the development of sport in schools and youth clubs.  One commentator pointed out that shortly after independence there were about 100 such specialist sporting youth clubs in the capital, but many of them have now been closed and sold off to serve as offices – for example, for the Social Fund.

Some commentators went on to criticize the athletes, albeit in general terms … they were big headed and overestimated their skills and potential, or maybe they suffered from “star syndrome” or, perhaps, simply “poor preparation”. There were a couple of interesting suggestions …

• it is important to have at least one “sports palace” complex which is built to modern international standards … which could be used for training purposes as well as staging major events
• the role of the state and other potential sources of financial support needs to be explored – the state cannot afford to do everything, (and there are many people that think that it shouldn’t try to, anyway!).

To me, however, perhaps the most important thing in this whole article was the idea that it is already time to start planning and working for the next Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

It seems that after every Games people of different nationalities are either inspired and want to build on success, or else they are spurred on by the relative “failure” of poor performances and are urged on to try for better results.  Debates start about the need to involve children in sports whist still at school, what sort of sponsorship programmes are needed and so forth.     I see that the debate has started in Britain – just as it has here.

Apparently Pele thinks that Rio is not ready for the 2016 Olympics, but there is still four years to go and they will probably I think that it’s unlikely that they will go the same way as Denver in 1976.

For the record:  having won the bid to host the Winter Olympics, then faced a taxpayers rebellion who refused to subscribe to a bond issue designed to raise funds to finance the event.  In the end, Innsbruck, (who had hosted the 1964 Games), stepped into the breech.

The logo for the 2012 London Games - it is supposed to be a stylized version of: 2012

In London Olympic Games, 2012, start in about two week’s times.

It is estimated that there will be something like ten and half thousand competitors from about 200 countries taking part in 302 events across 36 sports.

Although it must be nice for the participants to be able to travel around the globe to “exotic” places for such a major event as the Games, there are advantages to being the host country, which is always expected to do well, drawing on the  ”home advantage”.

This year the home team is being heralded as Team GB, (Team Great Britain – a phrase which has been used ever since the Games in 2000), and, judging by the hype, they are hoping to take advantage of appearing before a home crowd and for a record trawl of medals.

As for Team KG, (I suppose, following the example of Team GB, that it should really be Team KR - Team Kyrgyz Republic – but as it’s not an official designation I gave in to to the temptation to go for Team KG as a more catchy alternative), well, they are not going to have such an “easy time”.

There’s nothing new in that … Team GB has appeared in all 47 of the Modern Olympic Games since they were established in 1896, (27 Summer Games and 20 Winter Games), but this will be only the ninth appearance of Team KG, (4 Summer Games and 5 Winter Games).  In that time Team GB has accumulated a total of 737 medals, (216 Gold, 258 Silver and 263 Bronze) whereas Team KG has managed just 3, (a Silver and 2 Bronze – at least that is a better record than the 80 member countries of the IOC – the International Olympic Committee – that have never won a medal).  There are 542 sportsmen in Team GB in 2012 but only 13 in Team KG.

For the record:  The National Olympic Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic was established in 1991 – soon after Independence  – and was recognized by the IOC in 1993.  The first Kyrgyz team to compete at the Olympic Games took part in the 1994 Winter Games at Lillehammer in Norway, and the first appearance in the summer games was in 1996 in Atlanta.

Before independence, Kyrgyz athletes competed as part of the team of the Soviet Union, and the first ever gold medal won by a Kyrgyz athlete was for weightlifting in 1980.  Kanybek Osmonaliev not only won gold in his class, he was also three times world champion (in 1978, 1979 and 1981).  In the 1992 games – both Summer and Winter Olympics – Kyrgyzstan had been a member of the Unified team which represented 12 of the former Soviet Republics – and used the Olympic emblem in place of a national flag.  Kyrgyzstan contributed athletes only to the Summer Games – where the Unified team finished first in medal table at the Barcelona Games.  Since 1996 Kyrgyzstan has been represented as a separate country at each of the Summer Games – and also at the 2006 Winter Games.

Athletes from Kyrgyzstan have competed in Athletics, Boxing, Cycling, Judo, Swimming and the Modern Pentathalon in the Summer Games – and also in Alpine Skiing in the Winter Games.  Kyrgyzstan’s first medal success came in Judo in the Sydney Games of 2000, when Aidyn Smagulov took Bronze in the 60kg class.  Further success came in the 2008 Beijing Games when Ruslan Turmenbaev won Bronze and Kanat Begaliev won Silver in the Greco-Roman Wrestling competition,  (Begaliev had been tipped as a potential Gold medal winner.)

As to this year’s Team KG … :

Here’s some names that you might want to watch out for:

• Rasul Abduraim - Taekwando – 80kg – Friday, 10th August
• Dimitry Alexandrov - Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke – Tuesday 31st July (Heats and possibly Semi Final) … and possibly Wednesday, 1st August (Final)
• Julia Andreevna (Arhipova) – Athletics – Marathon – Sunday, 5th August
• Erzhan Askarov – Athletics – 800m – Monday, 6th August (Heats), and possibly Tuesday, August 7th (Semi Final) and Thursday, August 9th (Final)
• Arsen Eraliev – Greco-Roman Wrestling – 55kg – Sunday, 5th August
• Ilya Ignatiev – Sailing – Laser Class – Monday, July 30th: Tuesday, July 31st: Wednesday, August 1st: Friday, August 3rd: Saturday, August 4th (Fleet Races) … and possibly  Monday, August 6th (Medal Race)
• Ruslan Ismailov – Shooting – Air Rifle 10m – Monday, 30th July
• Danyar Kobonov – Greco-Roman Wrestling – 74kg – Sunday, 5th August
  Team Captain
• Yuri Krakovetsky – Judo – 100kg – Friday, 3rd August
• Chinghiz Mamedov – Judo – 90kg – Wednesday, 1st August
• Magomed Musaev – Free Style Wrestling – 96kg – Sunday, 12th August
• Bekzat Osmonoliev – Weightlifting – 62kg – Monday, 30th July
  Flag bearer in the opening ceremony
• Daria Talanova - Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke – Wednesday, 1st August (Heats and Semi Final) … and possibly Thursday, 2nd August (Final)
• Aisulu Tynybekova – Women’s Wrestling – 63kg – Wednesday, 8th August

Or, arranged by Sports:

• Athletics
• Women’s Marathon - Julia Andreevna (Arhipova) -  Sunday, 5th August
• Men’s 800m - Erzhan Askarov - Monday, 6th August (Heats), and possibly Tuesday, August 7th (Semi Final) and Thursday, August 9th (Final)
• Free Style Wrestling
• 96kg - Magomed Musaev - Sunday, 12th August
• Greco-Roman Wrestling 
• 55kg - Arsen Eraliev - Sunday, 5th August
• 74kg – Danyar Kobonov – Sunday, 5th August
  Team Captain
• Judo 
• 100kg - Yuri Krakovetsky -  - Friday, 3rd August
• 90kg - Chinghiz Mamedov - Wednesday, 1st August
• Sailing
• Laser Class -Ilya Ignatiev -  Monday, July 30th: Tuesday, July 31st: Wednesday, August 1st: Friday, August 3rd: Saturday, August 4th (Fleet Races) … and possibly  Monday, August 6th (Medal Race)
• Shooting 
• Air Rifle 10m - Ruslan Ismailov - Monday, 30th July
• Swimming 
• 200m Breast Stroke - Dimitry Alexandrov - Tuesday 31st July (Heats and possibly Semi Final) … and possibly Wednesday, 1st August (Final)
• Daria Talanova - Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke – Wednesday, 1st August (Heats and Semi Final) … and possibly Thursday, 2nd August (Final)
•  Taekwando
• 80kg - Rasul Abduraim - Friday, 10th August
• Weightlifting
• 62kg - Bekzat Osmonoliev - Monday, 30th July
• Flag bearer in the opening ceremony
• Women’s Wrestling 
• 63kg - Aisulu Tynybekova –  Wednesday, 8th August

… and by Date:

• Friday 27th July 
• Opening Ceremony
• Saturday 28th July  
• Sunday 29th July
• Monday 30th July
•  Sailing – Laser Class - Ilya Ignatiev -Fleet Races
•  Shooting – Air Rifle 10m - Ruslan Ismailov
  
• Weightlifting – 62kg - Bekzat Osmonoliev 
• Tuesday 31st July
•  Sailing – Laser Class - Ilya Ignatiev -Fleet Races
  
• Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke (Heats and possibly Semi Final) - Dimitry Alexandrov
• Wednesday 1st August
•  Judo – 90kg - Chinghiz Mamedov
• Sailing – Laser Class - Ilya Ignatiev -Fleet Races
•  Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke - Daria Talanova - (Heats and possibly Semi Final)
• Possibly : Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke (Final) - Dimitry Alexandrov
• Thursday 2nd August
• Possibly : Swimming – 200m Breast Stroke – Daria Talanova - (Final) 
• Friday 3rd August
• Judo – 100kg - Yuri Krakovetsky
•  Sailing – Laser Class - Ilya Ignatiev -Fleet Races
• Saturday 4th August
•  Sailing – Laser Class - Ilya Ignatiev -Fleet Races
  
• Sunday 5th August
• Athletics – Marathon - Julia Andreevna (Arhipova)
• Greco-Roman Wrestling – 55kg - Arsen Eraliev
• Greco-Roman Wrestling – 74kg - Danyar Kobonov (Team Captain )
• Monday 6th August
• Athletics – 800m – (Heats) - Erzhan Askarov
• Possibly : Sailing – Laser Class - Ilya Ignatiev -Medal Race
• Tuesday 7th August
• Possibly : Athletics – 800m – (Semi Final) - Erzhan Askarov
• Wednesday 8th August
• Women’s Wrestling – 63kg - Aisulu Tynybekova
• Thursday 9th August
• Possibly : Athletics – 800m – (Final) - Erzhan Askarov
• Friday 10th August
• Taekwando - 80kg - Rasul Abduraim
• Saturday 11th August 
• Sunday 12th August
• Free Style Wrestling – 96kg - Magomed Musaev 
• Closing Ceremony

Although winning is not supposed to be the most important thing, (which is supposed to be the “taking part”), I am not sure how many of them are likely to be among the medal winners, but there are incentives to help encourage and spur them on.    Anyone winning a Gold Medal will also win a prize from a specially established Prize fund for the athletes and their trainers of 200,000 dollars. A Silver medal will net 150,000 dollars and a Bronze, 100,000.

For the record: Smagulaov was presented with a four roomed apartment in Bishkek as a Prize in recognition of his winning a Bronze medal in the 2000 games.

It’s not just medal winners who can benefit, however, as prizes have been earmarked for anyone who manages to come in the top eight for any event: fourth place will bring 35,000, fifth: 30,000, sixth: 25,000, seventh: 210,000 and eighth: 15,000 dollars.

The rewards for trainers will be either 70% (for Chief Trainers) or 50% (for Personal Trainers) of the prize for the individual sportsman.

I am not sure how much money has actually been set aside from the budget for the Prize Fund … of course, there is a chance that no one will win any of the  awards … but there are some real hopes for potential medal winners – especially among the Martial Arts.  All of Kyrgyzstan’s three previous winners were from the Martial Arts – Judo and Greco-Roman Wrestling.  Aisulu Tynybekova, in particular, has received a lot of attention in the West as a potential medal winner.  This may partly be because of her age, but also because she is participating in a sport (Women’s Wrestling) which, despite the fact that Martial Arts are popular in Kyrgyzstan, is not particularly well developed.

Several of the athletes have already won international competitions in the build up to the Games.  Perhaps one of the more surprising is Ilya Ignatiyev, in the Laser Class in Sailing.

A Google search

I am constantly amazed by things that I discover on the internet … I sometimes wonder how we ever coped without it.

Want to know something? … Google it! … Look it up on Wikipedia!

It is not always as simple as that, but it is amazing how much information is out there and how much easier it is to be able to find it than “when I was a lad”.   Both, as a student and as a teacher, it was not just a question of a need to learn facts and figures, to gather knowledge and retain (or remember) it, a far more valuable skill was being able to research; to be able to search for and find information.

Nowadays, however, there is no need to trek off to the library, search through26 the tomes on the shelves and then through catalogues to look for a particular reference, perhaps having to order something through an inter library loan.  Nowadays, there’s a huge amount of information at available out fingertips.

These days a lot of information arrives my mailbox in the form of newsletters.  Many of them just have links to different pages on the internet … if the headline and brief summary in the newsletter look interesting, then click of the link and you’ll be transported away, possibly to the other side of the world, to access information sources that you may never have ever dreamt even existed.

Last week, one of those links took me to a report on the website of a Malaysian newspaper, The New Straits Times.   It might seem odd that I felt drawn to a Malaysian site … well, it certainly surprised me.

This particular report was about Ahmad Lufti Fauzan, a Malaysian cyclist, who came in ninth in a race in the Asian Championships which were being held in Putrajaya a couple of weeks ago.

Who? … What? …

Eugene Wacker - or is that Evgeny Vakker?

It was not the sort of news story that I would normally find of particular interest.  What had caught my eye, however, and drew me to the story was the phrase in the summary that “Kyrgyzstan’s Eugen Wacker retained the gold medal that he won in Nakhon Ratshasima, Thailand, last year.”

Who? … What? …

This struck me as something which definitely had to be looked into.

Now, I have got used to coming across interesting and surprising snippets of news about Kyrgyzstan from surprising quarters: things like the fact that Kyrgyz yachtsmen have been winning prizes in regattas, (this year in Indonesia … not bad for a small landlocked country), and may be heading for the Olympics … but I have to admit that I had never before heard anything Eugene Wacker: an Asian champion.

That’s probably because I skip over the sports pages in the newspapers and websites.  Although Maxim loves his cycle and gets involved in all sorts of activities, it’s a BMX and he’s really not interested in road racing, mountain biking or any other version of the sport.

So off I went, surfing and searching.  It was a good exercise and taught me once again that actually knowing something isn’t necessarily as important as knowing how to find it.

Unfortunately, for example, on this occasion Google and Wikipedia almost let me down.  Oh, there were some references to him, but precious few hard facts.

He doesn’t, for example, have an entry in  the English version of Wikipedia – but I did eventually find him on some of the pages about Kyrgyzstan in the Olympic Games where he is listed as Vakker.  So, you have to know what to look for.

He does have a page, however, in the French version – reinforcing in my mind the stereotype that the French are crazy about the sport.

The little information that I was able to garner is that he was born in Kyrgyzstan, (at a place called Kim-Niemcy … but I have to admit that I have absolutely no idea where that is), in April, 1974, (there seems to be some doubt – some of the Cycling sites state his birthday as being the 17th, but Wikipedia has it on the 18th.  Even the Kyrgyz based sites didn’t give a date of birth).

I also discovered that he his married, has three children and does a fair amount of training up around Lake Issyk Kul and that he has been cycling professionally since 1999, when he was 25.  He has cycled for German, Polish, Iranian and Kazakh and Chinese (Taiwan) teams.

He has appeared in three Olympic Games; won five silver medals at the Asian Games; four-times been champion of Asia in road racing; won the Asian Cup on the track, twice been world champion in Group “B”, and also won many international cycling races – not to mention being the Kyrgyz national  champion every year since 2002, (except that is in 2006, when the competition doesn’t seem to have been held).

Despite what seems to be an impressive record, he doesn’t have a particularly high CQ.

CQ?!

Cycling Quotient.  OK … it was news to me as well.    Sportsmen seem to love statistics and the CQ-ranking is a world ranking of professional road cyclists, which based on their performances during the precious 12 months. Apparently it is an unofficial successor to the UCI-ranking which disappeared when the ProTour was introduced in 2005.

Wacker’s CQ is currently 47.  Hmmm … 47 … the number doesn’t actually tell us much unless we do a bit more research about what it stands for … but rather than go into all the details, let me say that it gives him a world ranking of 996, whereas  Philippe Gilbert of Germany, who is ranked No.1, has a CQ of 3150.

On the other hand, apparently Kyrgyzstan currently has a combined CQ of 76, (putting them in 70th place out of 127), which means that (a) Wacker’s 47 represents the bulk of this and (b) there are some other Kyrgyz ranking cyclists out there … Hmmm …. Maybe I am going to have to do a bit more research.

Anyone for Chess?

This year is Alan Turing Year, named after Alan Mathison Turing who was born a hundred years ago, on 23rd June, 1912.  Turing was a mathematician, who played an important role in the development of computing,  He is famous for a number of things, most notably his role in the code breaking operations at Bletchley Park during World War II, his homosexuality which led to a court case and eventually his suicide, (although his family contested that it was suicide), a learned paper called “On Computable Numbers” which originated the concept of what came to be known as a Turing Machine and the acid test for artificial intelligence known as the Turing Test.

The paper is on an esoteric topic known as the Entsheidungsproblem, and it wasn’t the first to be devoted to it, but the idea of the Turing Machine was novel and important to the future development of computers and the idea of “artificial intelligence”.  He envisaged a machine which could accept data presented as symbols on a strip of tape, then apply an algorithm, or set of destructions, in order to take a particular course of action.  That sounds pretty much like a computer, and this simple idea proved to be extremely useful tool to computer scientists in their analysis and understanding of what computers could and couldn’t do.

The Turing Test was another extremely simple idea and was introduced in another ground breaking academic paper in 1950.  It involved person conducting a “conversation” with another entity which is in a separate room and the only means of communication is limited to text, (for example by using a keyboard and screen).  If the person cannot tell if the other entity is a real person or a machine and it is indeed a machine, then it can be said to exhibit artificial intelligence.

Turing’s influence is so great that he has been called the Father of Artificial Intelligence.

Back when I taught computing, the main example that we referred to in trying to get the idea across to pupils was that of ELIZA, a computer program devised by Joseph Weizenbaum in 1966. It looked for keywords in the text is received and was programmed to apply a rule which in order to construct a response, but if there was no suitable keyword, then to provide a generic response or simply repeat something from earlier in the conversation.  It proved to be so successful that it was thought to have passed the Turing Test, but there were a number of problems with this.

For a long time, the epitome of artificial intelligence was considered to be the ability to play Chess.  As a game, Chess is actually based on a set of quite simple premises: It is carried out on a small area, with a limited number of set pieces which are governed by a limited set of fairly simple rules which can be easily codified, (even if they can sometimes confuse us mere mortals).  Despite these simple bases, it quite quickly becomes extremely complex, as the players choice for each move, although limited by the pieces on the board and the available squares to which each can move, but also by the implications of the choice which will cut off other options in subsequent moves – not to mention having to cope with the unpredictable nature of your opponents choice of moves.

A good chess player plans several moves ahead, consider which of the available moves will put them in an advantageous position, spot the potential moves of their opponent in response and plan subsequent moves accordingly.  Although some people take to the game naturally, it can take many years to gain the experience necessary to be able to see sufficiently far ahead in a game and plan for different eventualities.

It might be quite a task for us … but to a computer it is fairly elemental. It can quickly compute the possible moves, their opponent’s possible responses, eliminating those which lead to defeat and selecting the ones which are most to lead to eventual victory.  The time available to them for making calculations will limit how far ahead they can “look”, but with sufficient memory available to them to store the results of their calculations they “learn” which are the best moves and which are to be avoided in similar situations in future games.

They also have an advantage in that they don’t get tired and have no emotions to affect their game.

On February 10, 1996, the computer Deep Blue manufactured by IBM became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion, (Garry Kasparov), under regular time controls.  It actually lost the match 4-2 as Kasparov won three games and drew the other two.  It also lost the rematch staged later in the year but did better, the final score being 3.5-2.5.

Chess was popular across the Soviet Union where it was considered a sport, including here in Kyrgyzstan and when I first came here in the mid 1990s you could occasionally see people sitting in the parks playing a game. After independence in 1991, however, the lack of support for the game meant that it fell out of the spotlight and into the shadow, with the nadir coming in 1997 when the Chess Federation was able to muster just 20 members, and there were no competitions organized in the country at all, not even at a local level. .

Now, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in the game and last year there were several competitions including a large tournament in July for the Governor’s Cup.  What is encouraging is the number of youngsters taking up the game … there are about 500 young chess players having achieving various ranks in the national ratings.

The State Agency for Physical Training and Sports has a budget allocating a sum for the promotion and development of the sport, supporting a number of “professional” players with grants and paying for certain administrative expenses for tournaments, but the Federation has to provide the prizes and, as a result, it has established a 60,000 som prize fund.  Over the New Year 80 schoolchildren took part in a tournament, although is some others numbers have risen well over 100 and nearer to 200.

As with computers, with each game and tournament in which they participate, they gain experience, learn and improve their play.  Apparently, however, the Federation is facing another problem because there is a lack of experienced trainers and judges.

Despite this, Kyrgyz chess players have achieved considerable success on the international stage, last year competing in tournaments in Chelyabinsk, India, Greece, Poland,and Uzbekistan where, (including the World Championships), bring home eight bronze medals.

In particular, in December 2011, Kyrgyzstan sent 16 chess players and a trainer to New Delhi for the Asian School Championships – where five year Old Artur Solomko taking the Bronze medal in his category –  amassing 7 points in his nine games; (the same score as the eventual champion, but he lost out on additional indicators).

Also in December the President of the International Chess Federation paid a visit to Kyrgyzstan and had meetings with various people, including Deputies of the Jogorku Kenesh, in which he discussed the possibility of further support for the sport, including the possibility of introducing chess into schools, the creation of “a chess palace” for holding classes and competitions.

He made one other interesting point, saying that chess and alcohol don’t mix.

Muhammad Ali

“Float like a Butterfly, sting like a Bee” was the catchphrase coined by Muhammad Ali, (whom I will always think of as Cassius Clay), a three time World Heavyweight Champion who was born on 17th January 1942.  He was  in many ways is an icon of the 1960′s, a period in which I was growing up.   It wasn’t all hero worship; he was both idolised and vilified.

Idolised as a good looking, fit, black sportsman … who showed that race was no barrier to success.  Vilified for that name change and refusing to be called up in the draft and take part in the Vietnam War.  Elvis Presley had quietly accepted the call and gone off to serve in Germany, but Clay’s refusal to be answer his country’s call would eventually lead to his being arrested, (and found guilty), on draft evasion charges; stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended.  Although he was not actually imprisoned, he did not fight for nearly four years whilst his appeal worked its way up to the  Supreme Court, where it was eventually successful.

To be honest, I am not keen on boxing.   I accept that it can be good as character forming, does involve an element of physical fitness and skill and it may represent one way for people in socially deprived regions to find a “way out” and succeed in life, but it always me as odd that the sport involves two people standing in a ring pounding each other in the head,  perhaps the most sensitive part of the body.   Maybe I am just being super sensitive to the photos showing bruises and contusions on fighters and stories of boxers, albeit relatively few, who have suffered brain damage or worse as a result of their participation in the sport.

Whatever, boxing is a very popular sport here.  Kyrgyz boxers have competed in the Olympic Games and other competitions and managed to gain some success and recognition.  Amongst the most notable Kyrgyz boxers are:

The Klitschko brothers, Vitaly (a former professional kickboxer and WBD world heavyweight champion in 2004/5) and Vladimir (an International Boxing Federation (IBF) and IBO world heavyweight champion).  Although Ukranian, they were born in Belovodsk when their father, a colonel in the Soviet Air Force was based in Kyrgyzstan. Vitaly knocked out each of his first 27 professional opponents – only three of whom managed to survive beyond the first round.

Almazbek Raiymkulov won the provisional NABF (North American Boxing Federation) Heavyweight title in 2006.  At that point he had won 23 of his 25 professional bouts – 14 by a knock-out – and losing only one … the other was a draw – but according to some accounts, (not all of them Kyrgyz), it was a controversial decision.   He started boxing at the age of thirteen, becoming the Kyrgyz national champion at seventeen, (the youngest holder of the title), and representing his country at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, (where he came fourth in his class), and other competitions.  Although his parents wanted him to be a doctor, he turned professional in 2001 and moved to Las Vegas to live and train.  He is probably the most internationally famous professional Kyrgyz boxer and is known by the nickname “Kid Diamond” (a version of his name, Almazbek … in Kyrgyz Almaz means diamond and “bek” is a diminutive could translate as “kid”), although sometimes he is klnown as “Doctor Evil”.   However, he ran into trouble in the States a short while ago, after a dispute with his trainer, and I don’t think he fights any more.

Oruzbek Nazarov, a lightweight southpaw, born in Kant in 1966, who won a bronze medal in the 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Reno, and went on to become European Champion in 1987. He turned professional in 1990, emigrating to train in Japan, (one of six “elite” boxers from the Soviet uUnion recruited by a prominent Japanese Gym) and reigned as the World Boxing Association, (WBA), Lightweight Champion in from 1993 to 1998, defending his title six times.  He won 26 of his 27 bouts; 19 by a knockout and eventually retired from the ring as a result of eye problems.   He has occasionally officiated as a boxing judge.

Nazarov’s been in the news here recently, commenting on the state of Sports administration in the country.  ”Since independence, Kyrgyzstan has changed the structure of the sports department about 15 times. This is absurd! ”  Decrying the fact that the status of sport in the country has been declined, he noted that the government department with responsibility for sport demoted from a Ministry, to a Committee, and now an agency.  Regional Sports Committees have been abolished and the sports school closed.  There is a real problem of funding when it comes to sport.

As it happens, Bishkek hosts the first major international boxing competition of the year in the Duisenkul Shopokov Memorial Tournament.

(The tournament is named after Duisenkul Shopokov, who was one of the biggest Kyrgyz heroes of the Soviet Union, a soldier, died on November 16, 1941 defending the city of Moscow during the Great Patriotic War as one of the famous Panfilov Brigade.)

This year, the 37th annual tournament will be held in the week week from January 25th to the 30th and competitors from some seven nations will be participating: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, China, Iran, Russia and Tajikistan, as well as the hosts Kyrgyzstan.    Last year there were 170 competitors from five nations who took part.  During  the 2010 competition, Kyrgyzstan collected six of the gold medals, whilst Uzbekistan took three and Kazakhstan and the People’s Republic of China each secured one.   Kyrgyzstan dominated the 2011 competition as well, and it was the first time that women also competed in the competition.   There are high hopes for a similar successful tournament this year, (the President of the Kyrgyz Boxing Federation, Abdibakyt Khalmurzayev, has apparently said that he expects at least four gold medals from the national team),  even though at least one prominent Kyrgyz boxer won’t be there as he has other contractual commitments in Moscow.

Logo of the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic

The Americans call it “Soccer” to distinguish it from their home grown version of Football, but the rest of the world calls it Football. Some people, however, call it “The Beautiful Game”.

Now, I have never been very keen about soccer, although I am happy to watch the odd game.  Maybe this is because I wasn’t very good at it and never got picked for the team.  In my teens, I gravitated to Rugby where I found myself accepted more easily and my limitations more easily overlooked.  There was less competition for places in the Rugby team as more players were needed, (15 as opposed to 11), and it was seen as a “rough” game.  I remember being told by Major Rowsell, the coach, not to worry about that: “Whereas Rugby is a game for hooligans played by Gentlemen, Football, (Soccer), is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans.”

I did play in a couple of matches for the staff team against the school, in the days when those matches were not frowned upon as unfair and potentially dangerous with adults playing against teenagers.  Needless to say, I wasn’t a first choice for the team, but it was known that I was prepared to turn out and have-a-go if the need arose, and the kids really looked forward to these occasions, (and, it the truth be told, normally hammered us).  Although I was just there to make up the numbers, and hidden away somewhere on the wing, on one occasion I actually almost scored.  Notice that: “almost” scored … in fact, I should have scored … the goalie was out of position and I’ll never forget the look of horror and astonishment as he stood looking at me turn to relief and delight as my mis-kick went wide of the post – very wide.  At least I didn’t fall over and land up flat on my back on the floor and a complete laughing stock.   However, with that kick I not only missed the goal, but also may chance to be a hero.

I do, however, support a club: Chelsea; but that’s simply because everyone else had one.  My brother supported Burnley – I have absolutely no idea why, we lived far away from this Northern city – but most people supported the giants of the day, another Northern club, Leeds United.  Under pressure form the kids in the Church Youth Group where I helped out, who all supported Leeds and wanted to know who I supported, I picked a team at random.  I wasn’t going to choose Leeds simply to be awkward, but I didn’t find them, attractive in their all white strip and what I took to be arrogance.  Chelsea had a number of young players who looked good and were often in the news on the fashion and other non-sporting pages … and I preferred their blue strip rather than all white of Leeds.  So I chose Chelsea.

I took a lot of ribbing; Chelsea were seen as bit of a joke.  There was even a 1930’s Music Hall song poking fun at the club for its lack of success, called: “The Day That Chelsea Won The Cup”. That year, however, Chelsea did indeed win the FA Cup, beating Leeds in the final; which went to a replay – the first time this had happened since the 1911/12 season – and which wouldn’t happen these days because they now have penalty shoot-outs to decide a match which is still tied after extras time. I wasn’t allowed to enjoy the glorious victory, however, and, for a time, I became a pariah.

There’s also the dark side of the club – the hooligans that support it and, unfortunately, also make the news.

I still support Chelsea, at least nominally, and it still draws a smile if it comes up in conversation.  History has a tendency of repeating itself and when I started teaching in North London, Leeds United had given way to Manchester United as the leading club in the English game and my affiliation to the Blues, as opposed to the Reds, often led to interesting banter. Even here in Kyrgyzstan it sometimes draws pitiful looks, although there isn’t the same antipathy towards the club, perhaps as a result of its association with the Russian millionaire Roman Abramovich.

There is some controversy as to where football originated.  Association Football, the current version of the game played all over the world, was first codified by the English FA.

Now, today happens to be the anniversary of the first ever official “international” Football match, back in 1872, which was between England and Scotland.

There had already been some “challenge” matches between England and Scotland, (five of them in the years 1870-72), but they are not recognized as the Scottish team was chosen from players who belonged to London clubs.  In 1872 the English FA decided to send a team to Scotland to play against a Scottish team.  At that time there was no Scottish FA, but the Queens Park club decided to accept the challenge and fielded a team.  The match took place on St. Andrew’s Day, November 30th.  It ended up a 0-0 draw.

Football is popular here in Kyrgyzstan.  People take a great interest in different competitions such as the European Cup and the World Cup.  That does not mean to say, however, that you will see lots of people “kicking a ball around” in their spare time …

The sport is governed by the Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic, (FFKR), which was established in 1992 and became a full member of FIFA in 1994.  The same year they also joined the Asian Football Confederation.

The national team has participated in a number of competitions – but has yet to reach the finals of a major one.  The team has, however, showed signs of promise and potential.

Their first international match was played against Kazakhstan in September 1992, which resulted in a draw, 1-1.  They recorded their highest win against Maldives (6-0) in 1997 having suffered their worst ever result a week earlier, (losing 7-0 to Iran – which was, at least, considerably better than American Somoa’s 31-0 loss to Australia in a 2001 World Qualifying match!)

In the 2004 Asian Cup they surprisingly lost their first match against Afghanistan who were just returning to international football and even their subsequent victory against eventual group-winners Nepal was not enough to help them proceed further.  However, they reached the semi final of the 2006 competition.

In the qualifications of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, their performances left no one in doubt that there is a potentially bright future for football in Kyrgyzstan.  Grouped with Bahrain, Syria and neighbours Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan matched their rivals, and recorded a 1-0 win away from home against Syria who were ranked nearly 70 places above them.

The country’s ranking in the FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings have fluctuated somewhat – starting at 165th in August 1994, falling to 175th in November 2003 and then rising to their best ever position of 119th in August 2006. At the moment they are ranked 188th – which is a new record low for them having just dropped two places in the rankings – and their average position in the rankings is 157th.

At least that is better than American Samoa, who are ranked the world’s worst team.  They recently won their first match, (against Tonga, 2-1), after some 30 defeats in almost two decades; they also hold the record for the worst ever defeat, 31-0 against Australia.

The Federation faces many difficulties in trying to harness the skills of young players, but with the help of FIFA, they have a program for the game’s development amongst the country’s youth - and have 60 youth trainers throughout the country.  However, limited funds to finance the high cost of travel and accommodation for international matches means that it is difficult for the national teams to gain experience, apart from in official competitions.   Of course, they are not alone in this respect … and in 2006 they participated in the ELF tournament (ELF=Equality, Liberty, Fraternity) in Northern Cyprus.  It is hoped that this will become an annual tournament – for mainly non-FIFA registered teams who lack the opportunity to play competitive international football.  As well as Kyrgyzstan, the teams in this initial tournament included: Northern Cyprus, Greenland, Tajikistan, Tibet, Zanzibar, Gagauzia (an autonomous region of Moldovia), and The Crimea.  (Afghanistan were also supposed to participate – but they withdrew).

The national team play all in red – shirts, shorts and socks – when at home in the Spartak Stadium in Bishkek, and all in white when playing away.

As well as running the national team, FFKR operate a Championship league and a knockout cup competition.

The Federation also support Women’s football – and the Kyrgyz team Azalea represented the republic in the USSR championship as early as in 1989.  They went on to win the CIS championship in 1992 – the high spot of their history.  Since then they have participated in several other international competitions – including the Kazakh Open Championship.  There are some three hundred players in the Bishkek area alone, and the Federation plan to hold a regular championship.

Mini-Football is also popular … and the Kyrgyzstan have even recorded a win against Australia in the 2006 Asian Cup competition.

Wrestling - a traditional sport amongst the Kyrgyz

Somebody brought me the CV the other day.  He was looking for a job and doing the rounds of potential employers looking to see if anyone had any suitable vacancies.    Unfortunately, at the moment we don’t have any vacancies, but all the same I met with him and went through the CV.

It was much the same as any CV.  There were the usual personal details, (name, age, nationality, marital status and contact details), education and work experience and a section on personal characteristics and interests.  This one didn’t include “listening to music” or “reading books” but did include “sport”, so I asked “What sport?”  The answer came back, “Sambo.”

I think he was a bit surprised because I knew what Sambo was … not many Westerners have heard of it, but it has been in the news because Vladimir Vladimirovich, (Putin – Russia’s Action Man Prime Minister and former President), is keen on the sport as well as being a Judo black belt.

For the Record: Sambo - the word is an acronym from the Russian  SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya, or Self Defence without Weapons -  used for a relatively modern martial art, combat sport and self-defense system based on Judo an a number of other traditional martial arts, which was developed in the Soviet Union and recognized as an official sport by the USSR All-Union Sports Committee in 1938.  Amongst the skilled aficionados of the sport is Vladimir Putin.  In 2009 the Kyrgyz sportsman Abakir Rysov won a gold medal at the World Championships which featured competitors from the United States, Denmark, France and Germany as well as countries from the former Soviet Union.

According to several websites, Kyrgyzstan has “traditionally been strong in wrestling and boxing”.  

This may not be surprising – the Kyrgyz hail from a warrior past and wrestling – including oodarysh – wrestling on horseback – is considered a national sport and, practiced in nomadic camps over the centuries.  As it happens, all of Kyrgyzstan’s medals in the Olympic Games have come in the Martial Arts and there are several clubs and Gymnasia which specialise in training sportsmen in these different combat sports.

In fact all forms of combat sports are popular in Kyrgyzstan as can be seen, for example, from the fact that: 

• amongst the ten sportsmen named in 2001, three were weightlifters, three were wrestlers, one was a kickboxer, one in sambo, one representing athletics and one player of the traditional Kyrgyz Game Toguz Korgol.  Sambo is a composite of various styles of martial art.  It is practiced in several countries apart from those of the former Soviet Union, and in the US is sometimes called Sombo.  (The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is a Master of Sport in both Sambo and Judo.)   The Kyrgyz have been fairly successful in international Sambo competitions – for example, in 2007 lifting 2 gold, 3 silver and 9 bronze medals. 
• Judo provided the first of Kyrgyzstan’s three Olympic medals - a Bronze won by Aidyn Smagulov in the 2000 Sydney games. 
• Kygyzstan has competed in the Olympic Games in Boxing and amongst notable Kyrgyz boxers are:
  • The Klitschko brothers, Vitaly (a former professional kickboxer and WBD world heavyweight champion in 2004/5) and Vladimir (an IBF and IBO world heavyweight champion).  Although Ukranian, they were born in Belovodsk when their father, a colonel in the Soviet Air Force was based in Kyrgyzstan. Vitaly knocked out each of his first 27 professional opponents – only three of whom managed to survive beyond the first round.
  • Almazbek Raiymkulov won the provisional NABF (North American Boxing Federation) Heavyweight title in 2006.  At that point he had won 23 of his 25 professional bouts – 14 by a knock-out – and losing only one … the other was a draw – but according to some accounts, (not all of them Kyrgyz), it was a controversial decision.   Having competed in the Olympics and other competitions, he turned professional in 2001 and now lives and trains in Las Vegas.  He is sometimes known by the nickname “Kid Diamond” (a version of his name, Almazbek … in Kyrgyz Almaz means diamond and “bek” is a diminutive could translate as “kid”) and sometimes as “Doctor Evil”.   
  • Oruzbek Nazarov, a lightweight southpaw who reigned as the WBA Lightweight Championship in from 1993 to 1998.  He won 26 of his 27 bouts, 19 by a knockout.  Born in Kant in 1966, he now lives in Tokyo and has occasionally officiated as a boxing judge. 
  • A name to watch for is apparently Sergei Sklyarov.  Born in Tokmok in 1987, where his father, also Sergei, and brother, Oleg, (both boxers) were born.  The family have moved to Omsk and he now boxes for Russia.  He has made a good start to his career, becoming an amateur youth European Champion at Middleweight and is heading to the Baijing Olympics.   
• Kickboxing is popular and there have been several world Champions from Kyrgyzstan including: Mirbek Suiunbaev and Shaban Shadmanov (low kick).  In 2002 a match between Kyrgyzstan and the US in Bishkek ended in a 6-0 for the home team.
• Two of the traditional sports popular amongst the nomadic Kyrgyz were kurosh (wrestling) and oodarysh (wrestling on horseback).  Kyrgyzstan has sent participants to compete in Wrestling at both, the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Greco-Roman Wrestling, and freestyle wrestling.  Two of Kyrgyzstan’s three Olympic medals have come from Greco-Roman Wrestling.  There is even Women’s wrestling – with Nurzat Shaylobaeva of Kyrgyzstan being ranked in the world’s “top ten”. 
• Armwrestling is also popular – with over 1000 practitioners throughout the country.  Kyrgyz participants have won several medals in competition, including three Gold medals at the 2007 Asian championships held on Lake Issyk Kul - and Alexnder Li won a bronze medal in the 2006 World Championships held in Manchester, England. 
• In 1993 the Taekwondo Association of the Kyrgyz Republic joined the World Taekwondo Federation and sends competitors to various competitions. 
• There are national Ju-Jitsu and a Belt Wrestling Federations.
• There is even a National Sumo Federation of Kyrgyzstan.

Wrestling and martial arts have also played a “darker” side in Kyrgyz society – and it is claimed that several “martial arts” practitioners played a role in Kyrgyzstan’s  Revolutions,  (on both sides!).  

About two weeks ago, I wrote a postcard about ski orienteering, and the Kyrgyz team attending the sport’s World Championships in Sweden.  In the recent Asian Games in Almaty, they did much better, the men’s relay team taking 4th place.  Unfortunately, the team didn’t do so well, in Sweden but they did manage to gain valuable international experience.

Ski Orienteering is just one form of the wider sport of Orienteering.  I also wrote another postcard last year about an orienteering event which I attended in Karagachova Rosha, one of Bishkek’s parks.

Orienteering first appeared in Soviet times when Kyrgyz athletes took places in the top five in All Union competitions.  Some factories even had their own teams and specialist clubs.   Orientation was also a part of military training, because every soldier must be able to navigate around a map.

With the collapse of the USSR, however, many of the specialists left Kyrgyzstan and development of the sport ground to a halt.  Following independence in 1991, alpine downhill skiing and snowboarding gained in popularity but cross-country skiing and orientation remained at an elementary level.

In 2008, a Kyrgyz team took part in the Russian Hiking Championship and, on their return, it was decided to try and revive the sport of orienteering in Kyrgyzstan.  Long term plans were set in motion to develop a variety of orienteering trails and competitions were organized, both hiking and cycle orienteering.  The Tourist Sport Union also began working with both disabled persons and socially vulnerable groups in the population.

Then, in 2010, the federation received an invitation from the Kazakh Orienteering Federation to participate in the Asian Games in the Ski orienteering competition.  The Kazakhs offered both organizational and technical support, and naturally, the Kyrgyz side seized the opportunity.

A search for suitable competitors to include in the team began.  In the end, the squad comprised of representatives from the federations of mountaineering, rock climbing and ice climbing, snowboarding and water sports, as well as from the Tourist Sports Union itself.  One of them in the men’s relay team had only two months experience on skis.  Unlike many of the teams they were to be competing against, the Kyrgyz squad was basically prepared from scratch.

There was also an issue concerning the recruitment of trainers, not just competitors.   At the moment there are about a dozen people in Kyrgyzstan who are qualified in “mountain tourism”, which includes the vital skills of topography and orientation.  Some, however, are engaged in commercial activities, (for example, working in travel agencies), so although they are happy to act as judges in competitions, they are not actively involved in training schemes.

A training programme initially began in the September, but was hampered by the lack of snow which only arrived in December.  In January, after just one month’s training, the federation sent a team to the Kazakh Championships which proved to be good preparations for the Asian Games.

There was a lot to learn.  For example, there over 80 different kinds of lubricants used by competitors – the choice of which one to use will depend on the temperature and the type of snow.  The coach, Ilshat  Dautov admits that mistakes were made, but “the only people who make no mistakes are those who don’t try anything.”

As well as taking part in international competitions, there is a lot of work to be done within the country, if the sport is to develop and take off.  Competitions are planned for both Spring and Autumn, including one organized together with the Mountain Bike Federation.

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Developing ski orienteering, in particular, in Kyrgyzstan is not so simple.  If Britain is known for changeable weather, then the situation in much of Kyrgyzstan is similar; the climate is often unpredictable – snow falls one day, but the next has already melted away. On the other hand, in some areas, such as around Naryn and Karakol, snow may lie for a long time.   In order to raise awareness and develop the sport in these areas, however, there is a need to organize clubs and routes.

Then there is a question about equipment, which doesn’t come in cheap.   Fortunately, some donation from federations abroad and some private sponsors some equipment has been provided, at least some second-hand, and it is planned to distribute it to clubs and schools.

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