On 10 October President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov personally inspected the Olympic village to make sure the sports facilities are ready to host the World Weightlifting Championship. The President was greeted by officials and Ashgabat's mayor.
The state information agency TDH reports that the President first visited the cafeteria where he was informed that food from national cuisines, including Turkmen dishes, will be provided to athletes. The President instructed that the diet for the championship participants should consist of Turkmen agricultural produce of high nutrition value.
The head of the state subsequently inspected the conference room of the Olympic village and assessed the layout and exterior of the hotel which will accommodate athletes.
The news outlet reminds that Parliament members were accommodated in the Olympic village who were charged with the task of building a shopping mall, the ground floor of which will be used to sell groceries and the first floor, which has already been commissioned, will feature household goods.
According to the news outlet, the President instructed that during the championship the residents who had been provided with apartments there will have an opportunity to use the services rendered by the shopping centres.
Then the head of the state paid a visit to the stadium, which will become the venue for the World Weightlifting Championship opening ceremony. Berdymukhammedov ordered organizing top level work environment for representatives of numerous media outlets whose coverage will primarily affect the opinion of the spectators from all over the world about Turkmenistan.
This was followed by the inspection of the martial arts complex where the sports hall design was demonstrated to the President.
Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov focused on the exterior decoration of the sports facility, paid attention to the image of Central Asian Shepherd Vepaly and emphasized that at all times a dog has been a man's friend and a helper and for this reason Vepaly should be a mascot of all major competitions, which are held in our country, � TDH reports.
The President emphasized that the figurine of Vepaly featured as a weight lifter must be realistic and vividly portray unique features of this sport as these souvenirs will be memorable gifts for athletes and visitors to the championship.
The 84th 2018 World Weightlifting Championship will be held from 1 to 10 November in Ashgabat. The Championship was initially planned to take place in Peru but the authorities of the country refused to host a tournament as the construction of the sports complex had not been completed.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan
