"I feel great actually. It's amazing, everyone is happy in the country. From an organising point of view the competition is a huge success and with the two gold medals that our athletes won over the past two days, it is just incredible.
Two days ago, we had the honour of having our President, H.E. Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev, and Prime Minister, H.E. Abdulla Nigmatovich Aripov, visiting the competition. It's a special feeling! We didn't expect it and we are so happy. When President Mirziyoyev gave the gold medal to Davlat Bobonov, I wanted to cry, I had to hold myself but it was a very emotional moment.
The support we receive from the President himself and from the government is huge and at that precise moment, I knew that we had succeeded and responded in the best way possible to that support.
The first days were complicated. I knew that every athlete of our delegation had the potential to be on the podium. They were ready but the world championship is a special competition, anything can happen. You also need to count on a bit of luck. It was a bit like in Tokyo, last year, we had to wait a few days before our first medal. First Davlat Bobonov won and 24 hours later, it was Muzaffarbek Turoboyev's turn to step on the top of the podium. You can expect a lot and when it happens, it's just like a dream come true.
One day before the start of the competition, I gathered together the team and I told them that they could make history here in Tashkent and this is what they did.
Once again, I can not thank our President and the government enough for all the effort they put into developing sport. Within a few years, we have increased our membership by 30%. We have now all the conditions necessary to develop judo and to perform at the highest level. We also have increased support from our fans, a hard working staff and the will of our judoka to be among the best. I am convinced that this will attract more and more young people to judo. Uzbekistan wants to become a healthy nation and we can contribute to that. This world championship already has and will have a massive impact on our society.
For us this is not the end but rather the beginning of a long story that will lead us to the World Championships next year in Doha, the Asian Games and the Olympic Games Paris 2024. We want to be among the top three nations in the world.
Just before the start of the World Championships, we also organised the first ever Judo Economic Forum under the initiative of President Marius Vizer. This was something very special, that will be organised again. It brings together the sport and the business sectors. This is crucial for the future of our younger generations.
As President of the Judo Federation of Uzbekistan, I gave all power to my teams and other respective departments. They had total freedom to achieve our goals. I trusted them so much and I am happy to say that they all did their job.
I want to give a special thank you to Marius Vizer, the IJF team and judo family. I want to have the same kind of professionalism and friendship within our federation. I truly believe that the World Judo Championships Tashkent 2022 was a perfect occasion to reach a high standard."
The competition is not over yet, but President Azizjon Kamilov has all the reasons to be happy and satisfied. It’s a job well done at all levels!