Tajik skier prepares for Olympics in extreme conditions

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DUSHANBE, Tajikistan – No matter whether he wins or loses, Alisher Kudratov will make history at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, February 12 – 28, when he becomes the first Tajik skier to represent Tajikistan in the winter games.

For Kudratov, the road to Vancouver began at an early age.

“I got up on skis for the first time when I was five. My father brought me here [the ski centre in Safedorak, White Valley]. He worked here as the head warehouseman. By age 12 I began professional mountain skiing”, recalls the 23-year-old Tajik Master of Sport.

Kudratov will represent Tajikistan along with 36-year-old skier Aleksei Drygin, a Russian citizen who has already represented the country for nearly ten years. In 2002, Drygin skied for Tajikistan in the 19th Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and again in 2006 at the 20th Olympic Winter Games in Turin.

Drygin chose to represent Tajikistan because of the lack of local competition in the sport. But, whereas Drygin trains at the best ski resorts in his homeland in Krasnoyarsk and in Germany, Kurdatov has only had the Safedorak centre available to him.

“Here, the landscape is the best. There is an excellent four-kilometre route. Even if there is only one [route], nature has provided everything the slopes need - both for beginners and professionals”, Kudratov said in an interview with Central Asia Online.

“But, it is just...” he boils over, “no one believes that we [students] trample this route down with our own feet. There is no snowcat,” he said referring to the machine that grooms ski slopes. “Sometimes, there is only enough time to use the route for a day and then on the next day it is again buried in snow.”

Training for Tajik teenagers is done at a children’s and youth winter sports school, which has been in Tajikistan as long as Safedorak — 35 years. School director Ibodullo Kurbonov, said neither the centre, nor the school has been renovated in the last15 years.

“What is there to say about the equipment, which costs a fortune? Just to outfit one athlete costs a minimum of US $3,000 (13000 TJS). We simply do not even have electricity”, said Kurbonov.

The 1.5-kilometre cableway only operates on weekends, and it was only, on New Year’s, that Kurbonov succeeded in supplying the centre with electricity. The rest of the time, the children have to climb the slope on their own.

"How many times can a teenager get up to a height of 1,500-2,000 metres? Well, two times—a well-trained one will be able to cover this distance three times. That is the whole exercise. And, once he gets to the top, he will need additional strength for the descent—he needs to eat”, said Kurbonov.

Kurbonov said that children are not fed at the school; they eat at home. All 85 students live in the villages surrounding the centre. Among them, there is not a single city dweller.

“Twenty years ago we taught mostly city kids. Many of them were girls. Now, only boys from the nearby kishlaks (villages) are on skis. There is only one girl—my daughter”, said Kurbonov.

“I was born and raised in the kishlak of Safedorak in the township of Takob”, said Kudratov. “All the boys go to this school. However, most of them ski on homemade skis. I am the only one with good equipment.”

In recent years, Kudratov has won gold medals at all of Tajikistan’s skiing championships. He doesn’t remember how many medals he has, but there is not one international medal among them.

“How could I get them, if we do not have the necessary facilities for training? Here, after all, it is only possible to train for certain disciplines like slalom and giant slalom. In the programmes for international competitions there are other disciplines, for which we do not even have gear.”

The Safedorak centre has attracted attention from would-be foreign investors who want to buy the ski resort.

“This information reached the president, and in 2006 he personally visited Safedorak. He took a look and instructed that the centre be renovated. Afterward, two Russian designers visited here and drafted a project for a new, future centre for US $14 m (61 million TJS). But, for now, that all remains on paper”, said Kurbonov.

Like many, Tajik athletes have difficulties finding financing. “Until March of last year, my parents completely supported me”, said Kudratov. “And I already have a family — my son is growing up.”

In March, the Vancouver Olympic Committee awarded Kudratov and Drygin monthly stipends of US $1,500 (7500 TJS) to prepare and participate in the 21st Olympic Winter Games.

“They only receive US $300 (1300 TJS) in their own hands. The remainder goes to training or, more specifically, to participating in international competitions and organising rest and exercise for them to the utmost”, said Kurbonov.

“I had already planned to go to Russia to work in the spring. I cannot just sit around all the time on my parents’ backs. But, then I changed my mind. I will perform and then we’ll see”, said Kudratov.

Asked what kind of work he would do in Russia, the athlete laughed, “Is there any other work for Tajik men there besides construction or a loader?”

“Skiing has become my life. My only wish is to one day raise the flag of Tajikistan”, added the Tajik skier.