KYRGYZSTAN: WRESTLING - Female freestyle wrestler Aisuluu Tynybekova is training tirelessly outside the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek with the hopes of bringing home a medal to her Central Asian nation

Record ID: 330782

  • Title: KYRGYZSTAN: WRESTLING - Female freestyle wrestler Aisuluu Tynybekova is training tirelessly outside the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek with the hopes of bringing home a medal to her Central Asian nation
  • Date: 4th June 2012
  • Summary: TYNYBEKOVA WALKING WITH REPORTER AND ROOMMATE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KYRGYZ FREESTYLE WRESTLER AISULUU TYNYBEKOVA, SAYING: "I played basketball there. In the 9th class, I went into karate. Later, in the 10th class, I realised that girls also wrestled and realised that they hold regional competitions in Naryn for girls too. I went there and that's where everything started. Then there was the Kyrgyzstan Republic championship, and that's how I began to get involved." TYNYBEKOVA'S SHIRT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KYRGYZ FREESTYLE WRESTLER AISULUU TYNYBEKOVA, SAYING: "We're going to London to win a medal and for that we are training, preparing. We're not coming here for nothing and we're trying our hardest for at least a bronze. Any medal would make us happy." TYNYBEKOVA AND ROOMMATE IN DISTANCE TYNYBEKOVA BLOWING ON A DANDELION ROOMMATE AND TYNYBEKOVA WALKING INTO DORMITORY ROOM HANDS OPENING BAGS OF DRIED FRUIT ON TABLE TYNYBEKOVA SAYING 'THESE ARE OUR NATURAL VITAMINS' TYNYBEKOVA'S ROOMMATE SMILING ROOMATE'S HANDS HOLDING RUSSIAN-ENGLISH DICTIONARY TYNYBEKOVA SAYING IN ENGLISH 'I WANT A GOLD MEDAL' AND LAUGHING, ROOMMATE SAYING OFF CAMERA IN ENGLISH 'MANY' TYNYBEKOVA'S CAP ON BED TYNYBEKOVA AND ROOMMATE
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kyrgyzstan
  • Country: Kyrgyzstan
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA5KUE4PRGNXWLGJ10IGX5COUY6
  • Story Text: In a picturesque mountain gorge about 27 kilometres (16.7 miles) from the Krygyz capital of Bishkek, the Central Asian nation's best hope for a medal in the London Olympics, trains with a 10 km (6.2 miles) run followed by vigorous lifting.
    After running past horse farms and yurts, Aisuluu Tynybekova, a 19-year old freestyle wrestler, stops at a river bank to repeatedly heft and swing a heavy rock as her coach Nurbek Izabekov looks on.
    Izabekov recalls noting Tynybekova's drive for the first time at a wrestling meet.
    "I noticed in her that this is a girl who is savvy, energetic, hard-working, with a huge desire, namely to get into a big arena and achieve big success," Izabekov says.
    From there, Izabekov, who is not only Tynybekova's personal coach but also the Kyrgyz National Women's Wrestling Team's head coach, took her on as a protégé, and it has paid off.
    "We've already been training three years. And now, we, in Astana, got second place in a licensed tournament in Kazakhstan, and won a pass to the Olympic games that will be in London," Izabekov says.
    There is not a woman in Kyrgyzstan who can beat Aisuluu Tynybekova on the wrestling mat. Her sparring partners are all male, and at least 10 kg heavier than Tynybekova who competes in the 63 kg (138 lbs) weight class.
    It's a familiar story for the economics student. Growing up in her remote mountain village, in the poor country of about 5.5 million, Tynybekova helped out on the family farm and played basketball with "the guys", she says.
    "I played basketball there. In the 9th class, I went into karate. Later, in the 10th class, I realised that girls also wrestled and realised that they hold regional competitions in Naryn for girls too. I went there and that's where everything started. Then there was the Kyrgyzstan Republic championship, and that's how I began to get involved," Tynybekova says.
    At the physical training centre in Kant, Tynybekova runs and drills with dozens of young men, her pigtails bobbing up and down. On the mat, she is a focused opponent, trying to gain an advantage on her partner and looking to her coach for critiques and advice. Tynybekova says, she hopes that advice and training will lead to a medal at the London games.
    "We're going to London to win a medal and for that we are training, preparing. We're not coming here for nothing and we're trying our hardest for at least a bronze. Any medal would make us happy," Tynybekova says.
    Near the training centre, Tynybekova and a roommate share a simple dorm room, where they keep dried fruit for between-training natural energy snacks. Both are practising English ahead of the trip to London for the Olympic games.
    Along with basic phrases like "how are you?", Tynybekova has a different kind of demand ready in her English arsenal.
    "I want a gold medal," she says in English to a Reuters reporter.
    The women's freestyle 63 kg competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London takes place on Aug. 8. Women's Wrestling joined the Olympic programme at Athens in 2004.
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