BMC supported expeditions – what was achieved in 2014?

In 2014 the BMC International Committee awarded a total of £14,250 to 16 expeditions, and an additional three awards from the Julie Tullis Memorial fund. Supported trips visited South America, Greenland and various regions in Asia, with mixed success.

Notably, there were a number of ambitious projects, with some of our most talented climbers attempting objectives that could rightly be called “cutting edge” in current alpinisim.

In general the usual factors of weather and conditions prevented them achieving their goals.

But they were certainly not alone: compared to recent years, 2014 saw very few outstanding climbs accomplished in the world’s mountains.

BMC supported expeditions – what was achieved in 2014?.

British ascent of new peak in Tajikistan

Although forced to retreat from possibly the last remaining virgin 6,000er in the Muzkol Range, a four-member British expedition was able to make the first ascent of Peak 5,553m via a 1,200m route of Alpine D.

Supported with grants from the BMC, MEF, Alpine Club, Lowe Alpine, The Chris Walker Memorial Trust and the Austrian Alpine Club, Becky Coles, Rhys Huws, Simon Verspeak and John Vincent first flew to Kyrgyzstan, before travelling south along the Pamir Highway to Northeast Tajikistan and the Muzkol Range.

 

This collection of high arid mountains in the southeastern Pamir saw exploration in the Soviet era, and again in the mid to late 1990s and 2000, when it became the venue for a succession of Andrew Wielochowski’s commercial EWP expeditions.

 

These teams picked off the major summits but Peak 6,123m, to the west of Dvuglavy (6,148m) and rather more difficult of access, remained unclimbed.

British ascent of new peak in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan: Female Boxer Fights Odds, Wins Olympic Bronze · Global Voices

Mavzuna Chorieva, a 19-year-old athlete from Tajikistan, won a bronze medal in the women’s lightweight boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

The fighter who was Tajikistan’s flag-bearer at the opening ceremony eliminated the highly ranked Chinese boxer Cheng Dong in a quarterfinal match on August 6, before losing her semi-final against veteran Irish fighter Katie Taylor two days later. The 26-year-old Irish who had previously won four world championships and five European titles consequently took gold.

….

via Tajikistan: Female Boxer Fights Odds, Wins Olympic Bronze · Global Voices.

Tajikistan gears up for London Olympics – Central Asia Online

Challenges, rewards for athletes

The government supports its athletes, rewarding their accomplishments, but some competitors say shortcomings in the level of training facilities remain.

“Of course, training conditions for athletes in other countries are better than ours,” Ovcharenko said. “Take Belarus, where I competed last year. There, they have excellent tracks – both covered and open air. Here, we have to train year round outdoors in both snow and rain. In winter, for example, the track freezes and running is not only difficult but also dangerous. In summer, it is too hot.”

To motivate athletes, President Emomali Rakhmon earlier this year ordered cash prizes of 300,000 TJS (US $63,400) for gold medallists, 250,000 TJS (US $52,800) for silver medallists and 200,000 TJS (US $42,200) for bronze medallists.

Additionally, the Dushanbe mayor’s office plans to give free two-bedroom apartments to any Dushanbe resident who wins gold and to make them “Honoured Citizens of the Capital.” Dushanbe also is promising 45,000 TJS (US $9,500) and 35,000 TJS (US $7,400) for residents who win silver and bronze, respectively. Other benefactors include the Islamic Renaissance Party, which is promising two-bedroom Dushanbe apartments for any Tajik medallists, and Orienbank, which intends to give Lexus cars to medallists.

“I think this is a very good incentive for our athletes,” Ovcharenko said.

The coaches have high hopes for their athletes, but sports watchers are less optimistic.

Tajikistan has chances to win a pair of bronze and silver medals, predicted commentator Narzullo Latifov. “A lot depends on their opponents in the first round,” he said. “If they are no better than our athletes, then ours have a chance of reaching the second round. Otherwise, there’s practically no chance (for ours).”

Expounding on Ovcharenko’s assessment, he said Tajik athletes don’t have access to the levels of training that can win many gold medals. That lack of commitment sways many athletes to represent other countries, he said.

He cited hammer thrower Sukhrob Khodzhayev, a former Tajik athlete who is representing Uzbekistan this year, as an example.

“This young and successful athlete dropped Tajikistan and started competing for another country because we didn’t truly appreciate him here,” he said.

Tajikistan’s Olympic team also includes Dilshod Nazarov (hammer throw); Alisher Gulov and Farkhod Negmatov (WTF Taekwondo); Sobirdzhon Nazarov and Dzakhon Kurbonov (boxing); Rasul Bokiyev and Parviz Sobirov (judo); and Iskandari Rustam, Yusuf Abdusalomov, Zelimkhan Yusupov and Nikolai Noyev (freestyle wrestling).

via Tajikistan gears up for London Olympics – Central Asia Online.

Tajikistan gears up for London Olympics – Central Asia Online

Tajikistan’s team includes two boxers who are primed to do well. Mavzuna Choriyeva, 19, will take part in the Olympic debut of women’s boxing. She earned a bronze medal at a world championship in China, and her coach, Mirzo Shamsiyev, a former boxer, said she has been performing well in training.

Shamsiyev is also training Anvar Yunusov, rated in April by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) as the world’s best <56kg boxer.

“I think they’re in great shape now, and they won’t let me down,” Shamisiyev said of the two boxers.

Choriyeva is one of three women on the Tajik team.

Another, runner Vladislava Ovcharenko, can be seen regularly practicing in the early morning or evening at Dushanbe’s Central Stadium.

“Taking part in the Games is a dream for every athlete,” said Ovcharenko, who trains outdoors to best simulate the Olympic conditions but said she tries to train in the cooler parts of the day.

Ovcharenko, 25, has raced professionally for more than 10 years. This June in Bishkek, she set a national record (24 seconds) for the 200m dash – the event she will compete in at the Olympics.

“As she trains, Ovcharenko is gaining even more skill and is in top form,” said Yevgeny Shumarin, secretary-general of the Tajik Track and Field Federation.

Ovcharenko has a law degree but said she hopes to continue her career in running.

“In the future, I want to work as a coach,” she said. “I got a degree because anything can happen in sports. You can break a leg, and then you’ll never run again.”

Freestyle swimmer Yekaterina Ismailova, who will compete in the women’s 50m event, rounds out the women’s contingent.

via Tajikistan gears up for London Olympics – Central Asia Online.

Sergei Babikov becomes 16th Tajik Olympian – Central Asia Online

DUSHANBE – Pistol shooter Sergei Babikov will become the 16th Tajik competing in the London Olympics, News.tj reported July 10, quoting the Tajik National Olympic Committee. The International Shooting Sport Federation awarded him an Olympic slot for the 10m air pistol event.

Babikov competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympiads.

The other team members include Dilshod Nazarov (hammer throw); Alisher Gulov and Farkhod Negmatov (WTF Taekwondo); Mavzuna Choriyeva, Anvar Yunusov, Sobirdzhon Nazarov and Dzakhon Kurbonov (boxing); Vladislava Ovcharenko (running); Rasul Bokiyev and Parviz Sobirov (judo); Yekaterina Ismailova (swimming) and Iskandari Rustam, Yusuf Abdusalomov, Zelimkhan Yusupov and Nikolai Noyev (freestyle wrestling).

via Sergei Babikov becomes 16th Tajik Olympian – Central Asia Online.