World sport is recovering from a prolonged "hibernation" during the pandemic. The domestic sports industry does not stand aside either. Since the beginning of the year, Turkmen athletes have won dozens of medals of various denominations at major international competitions.

Earlier, the successful holding of international sports events in Turkmenistan stimulated interest in the country. The V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games held in Ashgabat, the International Rally "Amul–Hazar 2018", the World Weightlifting Championship 2018 were indicative in this regard. And the success at the Olympic Games in Tokyo confirmed the fact that sport in Turkmenistan has only increased its capabilities during the pandemic "lull".

In April of this year, an Organizing Committee was established in the country to prepare the national teams of Turkmenistan for the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games and the XVII Summer Paralympic Games, which will be held in Paris in 2024.

The year 2022 was fruitful for the National Olympic Committee: 11 medals were won at the Asian Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent, where some of the Turkmen athletes became vice-champions of Asia; participation in the Silk Road 2022 rally raid held in Russia was also successful for the Turkmen national team. Athletes from Turkmenistan demonstrated impressive results at the VII International Sports Games "Children of Asia", held in Vladivostok, as well as the V Islamic Solidarity Games in the Turkish city of Konya, where they won 23 medals.

Other competitions during which Turkmen athletes won awards are the Open European Judo Championship held in Austria, the International Karatedo Competition in Berlin, Germany, the Shotokan Karate World Championship in Czech Pardubice and the International Sambo Founders Cup Tournament in Sambo and combat Sambo in the Russian capital.

Such a wide representation of Turkmen sports teams at international tournaments demonstrates the gradual increase in Turkmenistan's presence on the world sports arena after the break associated with COVID-19. At the moment, the country has more than 70 intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements on sports diplomacy.

Great importance is attached in Turkmenistan to the popularization of sports among the masses: almost all schools in the country have sports sections, most often in martial arts. In the largest city shopping centers there are fitness clubs, the price for a monthly subscription in which on average ranges from 200 to 500 manats.

Fitness clubs also operate at medical institutions in Turkmenistan; you can enroll in them by providing a passport, a certificate of health status, in some cases you will need a doctor's recommendations.

Specialized sports complexes accept children and adults who want to master a specific sport, the most popular of which recently are tennis, basketball, gymnastics, hockey, football, swimming, and fencing. The average price for such sections can range from 200 to 800 manats per month, depending on the chosen sport. The Olympic town, the Bagtyyarlyk sports complex in Ashgabat and many other training grounds throughout the country fully satisfy the need of the population for such sections.

Arslan MAMEDOV