Postcard from Bishkek

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.

Tags: For_the_Record, In_the_News, Kyrgyzstan, Sport