Olympic and Paralympic Movement in Uzbekistan

In January 1992, the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan was established at the constituent General Assembly. Then the public sports organization of the republic was recognized as a member of the IOC, a full-fledged subject of the international sports community. Our athletes and teams had the opportunity to speak at all significant forums - championships, championships, World Cup draws, Asia and, above all, the Olympics. For almost a third of a century, Uzbekistanis have started in eight winter and seven summer World Games.  If we count the awards won also at the Paralympics, then our compatriots have more than a hundred medals of various denominations, a third of them are of the highest.

Milestones of the rapid upward movement
The independent Olympic debut took place in Lillehammer, Norway, where the 1994 Winter Games were held. Lina Cheryazova performed brilliantly. In honor of her victory, the national anthem of Uzbekistan was played for the first time at the Olympics. She won gold in such a difficult discipline as freestyle. The winnings are not random. Before the triumph in Norway, Lina twice climbed to the highest step of the podium in Grand Prix tournaments, 13-fold (!) winner of the World Cup stages, two-time World Cup champion. Honored Athlete of the Republic of Uzbekistan was awarded the Order of "Mehnat Shukhrati".      
Then foreign experts appreciated the results of six more members of the sports delegation of Uzbekistan who participated in figure skating and mogul competitions. The head of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, said that Uzbekistan, as one of the southern countries, has made a significant contribution to the expansion of the geography of winter sports, demonstrating high achievements. Our boys and girls in the first years of independence were able to raise the authority of Uzbek sports.
Uzbekistan then confirmed its status as one of the southernmost countries where winter disciplines are cultivated in Nagano-1998 (Japan), Salt Lake City-2002 (USA), Turin-2006 (Italy), Vancouver-2010 (Canada), Sochi-2014 (Russia), Pyeongchang-2018 (South Korea), Beijing-2022 (China).  Now our "snowmen" are actively preparing for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy), where the Games were already held almost 70 years ago, in 1956.
However, the main criterion for the level of development of sports in a particular country is still the results of its athletes at the Summer Olympics. And the first such sports summit, which was attended by Uzbekistanis from eleven regions of the republic, was Atlanta-1996 (USA).
Competitions continued for two weeks in the capital of the state of Georgia. Fifteen of our countrymen, who competed in 13 disciplines of the Olympic program, entered the top 10 of the strongest on the planet. The silver medal was won by 24-year-old judoka Armen Bagdasarov, the prize-winner was also boxer Karim Tulyaganov. In the team competition, the delegation of the republic took 58th place among representatives of 197 states.
The performance of 77 Uzbekistanis at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (Australia) was a landmark. The master of the leather glove Mukhammadkodir Abdullayev from Andijan became the first to add a "summer" gold medal to the general piggy bank of independent Uzbekistan, justified the hopes of coaches and numerous fans. Recognized twice as the best athlete of the year, he already had the titles of world champions (Houston, USA and Tashkent, Uzbekistan) and Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Asiads (Bangkok, Thailand). The main dream came true in Sydney - the highest award at the World Games of our time.
A comrade in the boxing squad was supported by Rustam Saidov and Sergey Mikhailov, who were awarded bronze medals. "Silver" in the asset of the freestyle wrestler in the heavyweight category Artur Taymazov.
Let's continue the chronology of the Summer Olympics.
The year 2004. Athens (Greece). Martial artists distinguished themselves again. They have two gold, silver and two bronze medals on their account. The champions were Alexander Dokturashvili (Greco-Roman wrestling) and Artur Taymazov (freestyle). Magomed Ibragimov (freestyle wrestling) lost to his opponent only in the final. The winners of the bronze medal were boxers Bahodirjon Sultanov and Utkirbek Haidarov.
2008. Beijing (China). The number of awards has increased to six. Artur Taymazov confirmed the title of the strongest on the wrestling mat. Soslan Tigiev (freestyle wrestling) and judoka Abdulla Tangriev have the titles of vice-champions.  Among the winners are Rishod Sobirov (judo), Anton Fokin (gymnastics) and Ekaterina Khilko (trampoline).
2012. London (UK). 54 athletes performed under the flag of Uzbekistan in 16 Olympic tournaments. Once again, the highest award is in the hands of Artur Taymazov. He became a three-time Olympic champion. For the second time, Rishod Sobirov climbed the third step of the podium. Abbos Atayev, a pupil of the Bukhara boxing school, made his way to the semifinals.
2016. Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The most successful Games of the sports delegation of the republic, whose members represented our country in such sports as academic rowing and kayaking and canoeing, artistic and athletic gymnastics, light and heavy athletics, table tennis, swimming, taekwondo, judo, tennis, trampolining, bullet shooting, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling.  The geography of the representation has significantly expanded. However, the awards - four gold, two silver and seven bronze - are still won by the national teams in priority sports. The national anthem of Uzbekistan was played three times in honor of the victories of boxers Hasanbay Dusmatov, Shahobiddin Zoirov, Fazliddin Goibnazarov and weightlifter Ruslan Nurudinov.  Shakhram Giesov and Bektemir Melikuziev (both boxing) returned to their homeland with silver medals. Other masters in the ring - Murodjon Akhmadaliyev and Rustam Tulyaganov, as well as judoists Rishod Sobirov and Dierbek Urazbayev, wrestlers Elmurat Tasmuradov, Ihtiyor Navruzov and Magomed Ibragimov - were also solemnly honored on the streets of Tashkent.
2021. Tokyo (Japan).  Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Olympics took place a year later. During the competition, athletes in the capital of the Land of the Rising Sun also had a hard time. There were a lot of sanitary restrictions. Nevertheless, the Uzbeks performed with dignity. The youngest taekwondo athlete Ulugbek Rashitov, weightlifter Akbar Juraev and boxer Bahodir Zhalolov took the first places. The bronze medalists were Davlat Bobonov (judo) and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (wrestling). In the medal standings, the delegation of Uzbekistan, which included 67 athletes who competed in 17 program tournaments, entered the top 30 countries that won medals. Athletes from 201 countries participated in the Quadrennial Games.
As you know, according to tradition, after the Summer Olympic Games, in half a month, the Paralympic Games begin. The debut of Uzbeks with disabilities in Beijing turned out to be unsuccessful. The London 2012 Games have already been affected by the acquired experience. Sharif Khalilov reached the final of the judo competitions and eventually became the second. Husniddin Norbekov showed the fourth result in the hammer throwing sector, and swimmer Kirill Pankov, who twice updated Asian records in the preliminary rounds, was sixth in the final.
Our Paralympians in Rio de Janeiro have risen to a qualitatively different level. They brought home eight gold, six silver and 17 bronze medals at once, while updating six world, seven Paralympic and 12 continental records. The indicator of the delegation of Uzbekistan is 96.8 percent in the ratio of the number of athletes and the awards won. The best result for the entire time of the Paralympic Games, since 1956.
Experts attribute such a rapid rise to the fact that the National Paralympic Association of Uzbekistan, established in 2007, received the status of a state committee in 2021. The administrative and organizational structure has been strengthened, the material and technical base for the development of the Paralympic movement has been strengthened not only in the capital, but also in a number of areas. The teams began to regularly hold training camps abroad, go to international competitions.
Great competitive practice allowed the Uzbek team to consolidate their achievements at the next Paralympics in Tokyo. Out of 86 countries in the overall standings, the national team of the republic took the 16th place (8-5-6). In the CIS and Asia, our delegation is in the fourth position, and in Central Asia it has no competitors: the neighbors from Kazakhstan following us were only 52 in the list.
Note, by the way, that it was Paralympian Server Ibragimov (bullet shooting) who has already fulfilled the licensed Paralympic standard and received a ticket to participate in the 2024 Games in Paris (France). In the National Sports Award - 2022, he was recognized as the best Paralympian of the year.

To new frontiers. 
At a low start
Just a couple of months after the end of the World Games in Tokyo, the President of Uzbekistan signed a decree "On the comprehensive preparation of athletes of Uzbekistan for the XXXIII Summer Olympic and XVII Paralympic Games held in Paris (France) in 2024" dated November 5, 2021. Priority tasks for preparation for the main competitions of the fourth anniversary, new paradigms of actions are defined.  Among them are the improvement and digitalization of the sports education system, the creation of a highly effective reserve of athletes in sports included in the Olympic and Paralympic programs, a significant increase in the number of licenses. In particular, the targets provide for participation in 244 Olympic Games programs and obtaining 103 licenses in 26 sports, including participation in 31 programs in eight promising disciplines (badminton, table tennis, rock climbing, water polo, synchronized swimming, diving, equestrian, triathlon). The National Paralympic Committee has also set big goals: participation of 105 of our compatriots in 476 Paralympic programs and obtaining 105 licenses in 12 sports, including such as boccia, para-table tennis, para-archery and paravelosport.