On July 26, the opening ceremony of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games took place in the capital of France with the participation of athletes from Turkmenistan. Revived in 1896 by French public figure Pierre de Coubertin and held every four years, these large-scale competitions gather the best representatives of the sports world from all corners of the planet.

To enhance the international sports prestige of the Homeland in the era of Revival of the new epoch of the powerful state and successful performance of our athletes at the 2024 Olympics, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov, who heads the National Olympic Committee, issued two special Decrees. These outlined a program and established an Organizing Committee to prepare national teams for the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games and XVII Summer Paralympic Games in Paris.

On the eve of the ceremonial send-off to the 2024 Olympics, which took place at the Martial Arts Sports Complex of the capital's Olympic Village, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov addressed a welcoming message to the Turkmen athletes. In it, the head of state cordially congratulated the athletes on participating in the world sports festival and wished them to worthily represent independent neutral Turkmenistan at the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games and raise the country's sports prestige in the world to an even higher level!

The Turkmen Olympic delegation consists of 19 people, including 6 athletes who will compete in four sports - judo, athletics, swimming and weightlifting.

For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympic Games, the opening ceremony took place not in a stadium, but in the very center of the city. It began with an unusual parade of athletes: participants of the 2024 Olympics sailed on boats along the Seine River. The delegations started their journey at the Austerlitz Bridge and finished 6 km later at the Trocadero Square right by the Eiffel Tower. During the trip, athletes were able to see the main sights of the French capital: Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Grand Palais, the Pont Neuf bridge, and many others.

As per tradition, the Olympic parade was opened by the athletes from Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games. All participating teams of the Paris Olympics marched in front of the numerous spectators gathered on the stands along the embankment. Among them was the national team of Turkmenistan. The column of Turkmen Olympians was led by flag bearer S. Rakhimov, the country's first Grand Slam judo champion. At the prestigious "Dushanbe Grand Slam 2024" tournament held in Tajikistan in May this year, he won a gold medal in the 66 kg weight category. And now he has been entrusted with an equally important mission - to be the team's flag bearer at the main competition of the four-year period.

Along with S. Rakhimov, Turkmenistan is represented at the 2024 Olympics by: judoka M. Pardaeva (57 kg), swimmers M. Zhalaev (100m freestyle) and A. Primova (100m backstroke), weightlifter D. Khasanbaev (102 kg), and track athlete V. Meredova (100m sprint). Meredova is the only athlete in the Turkmen delegation participating in the Olympics for the second time after her debut in 2008 at the Beijing Games. The rest are first-time Olympians.

The Turkmen Olympians' task in Paris is to raise the authority and prestige of national sports as high as possible. The country does a great deal for sports, including under the personal patronage of President Serdar Berdimuhamedov and the National Leader of the Turkmen people, Hero-Arkadag. Further development of the Olympic movement, mass physical culture, and high-performance sports has been elevated to the level of state policy in Turkmenistan.

As reported from the Turkmenistan team headquarters in France, our athletes are in good, fighting spirits. Despite the great distances, they feel the emotional support of their compatriots. They know that all of us Turkmenistan citizens, in a united patriotic impulse, wish them successful starts!