NATIONAL OLYMPIC
COMMITTEE OF TURKMENISTAN

Today 25th November 2023, the opening ceremony of the 14th World Kurash Championship took place in the capital city of Turkmenistan. This event became new evidence of the transformation of Ashgabat into a recognised international sports centre.

And now Ashgabat is hosting another major world-scale tournament. In order to hold the World Championship at a high level, the President of Turkmenistan SerdarBerdimuhamedov signed a Resolution on the 12th of July, creating the OrganizingCommittee and approving its composition. And on the 16th of August, the State Committee of Turkmenistan for Physical Culture and Sports signed the Host city agreement with the International Kurash Association (IKA) to hold a world championship in this type of wrestling.

In the evening on 25 November 2023, the opening ceremony of the World KurashChampionship took place. The venue was the Martial Arts Arena, which is part of the infrastructure of the capital’s Olympic Complex, built on the initiative of the National Leader of the Turkmen people Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to host the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. And now this largest sports facility in the Central Asian region serves to host major sports competitions, as well as to train athletes and everyone who wants to improve their health.

Today, a festive atmosphere reigns in the stands of the 5,000-seat indoor arena of the Olympic Complex, where numerous spectators have gathered. Everyone is excitedly awaiting the start of the celebration, which marks the start of the competition, the events of which will now be followed by a wide audience of fans.

At the end of the official part of the ceremony, the participants of the celebration were shown a video about the beauty of Turkmen nature, national values and riches of our country to the sound of the gargy-tuyduk.

Next, the audience was presented with a number of dance numbers dedicated to the national Turkmen wrestling, Turkmen carpets, and cultural heritage items. And of course, what would a holiday be without the fiery ancient magical dance kushtdepdi! Being a kind of personification of the inextricable connection of times and generations, it has become an integral part of not only the national but also the world's cultural heritage. Thus, by the decision of UNESCO, kushtdepdi was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

So, the World Kurash Championship has started. Ahead of the fans are exciting duels in seven men's and eight women's weight categories.