Valentina Meredova of Turkmenistan showed true Olympic spirit during the first round of the women's 100m sprint at the Paris Olympics. Despite successfully advancing to the next stage of the competition, the 39-year-old athlete returned to the track to help her injured opponent from South Sudan.

The incident occurred on August 2 when Lucia Maurice from South Sudan fell approximately 70 meters into the race. Meredova, who finished fourth in the race, along with Silina Pha Apkhai from Laos, who finished sixth, immediately returned to help the injured athlete. They stayed with Maurice until medical personnel arrived and she was evacuated on a stretcher.

Valentina Meredova, who will turn 40 in September, is one of the most experienced participants at the Paris Olympics. During her 27 years in athletics, she set Turkmenistan records in the indoor 60 meters (7,44 seconds) and the 100 meters (11,56 seconds). Meredova has participated in numerous international competitions, including the World, Asian and Asian Games.

At the Paris Olympics, Meredova started in the preliminary round, where she finished in 12,01 seconds, placing 16th overall and qualifying for the main round. In the main round, she improved her time to 11,95 seconds, which was her best performance this season. However, this was not enough to reach the semi-finals.

Despite the fact that Valentina was unable to make it to the finals of the competition, her performance at the Olympics deserves respect. Especially considering that she is the only athlete on the Turkmen team who previously competed at the Olympic Games (in 2008 in Beijing).

This noble act of Meredova attracted the attention of the American sports magazine Sports Illustrated, which noted it as a shining example of the sports spirit at the Olympics. Her actions demonstrate that mutual aid and compassion trump athletic achievement.

The world's longest rally competition started at Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul. The participants will finish in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, reports Bolshaya Aziya.

The competition is organized by the Friendship and Peace East-West Rally Association with the support of the European Union and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the opening ceremony of the rally, the president of the Association, Nadir Serin, said that 30 motorists from seven countries, including Turkey, will take part in the competition. The participants will travel through Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China and finish in Mongolia. Their route, Nadir Serin added, will be the third route laid through Central Asia.

The rally will end on August 28.

Midfielder of the Turkmenistan national team and Hong Kong Kitchee Ruslan Mingazov played in a friendly match against Atletico Madrid. The game took place on August 7 at the Hong Kong National Stadium and ended with a score of 6:1 in favor of the Spanish grandee.

Mingazov was in the starting lineup and spent 80 minutes on the field, receiving a rating of 6.7 from Sofascore, which became the fourth best result in the team. The best rating - 7.2 points - was received by the author of the only goal of Kitchee, Uzbek forward Sherzod Temirov.

It should be noted that 33-year-old Mingazov made 15 passes in this game - 100% accuracy, won 3 ground duels (4), earned 2 fouls and shot on target 1 time.

The Turkmenistan national under-17 football team will take part in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) championship, which will be held from August 17 to 24 in Dushanbe.

The tournament will bring together teams from six Central Asian countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

For Turkmen football players, this event will be an important part of preparation for the upcoming qualifying round of the 2025 Asian Cup among youth teams in October. In Group “D” of the qualifying tournament, Turkmenistan’s opponents will be the teams of Thailand, India and Brunei.

The draw for the group stage of the 2024 CAFA Championship will take place on August 15, after which the full calendar of games will be published. All matches of the tournament will be available for viewing live on the CAFA YouTube channel, the Organizing Committee of the tournament reports.

Real Madrid vs Chelsea

Real Madrid beat Chelsea in a friendly match.

The match took place in Charlotte (North Carolina, USA). The Londoners responded to goals from Lucas Vazquez (19) and Brahim Diaz (27) with a goal from Noni Madueke (39). The final score was 2:1 in favor of Real Madrid.

Real Madrid's star newcomer Kylian Mbappe did not fly with the club on a pre-season tour of the United States. Also, the main squad players who were given leave after Euro 2024 did not play in the match - Jude Bellingham, Camavinga, Tchouameni and Carvajal.

Real Madrid played their final match as part of the pre-season tour. On Wednesday, August 14, Madrid will play Atalanta in Warsaw for the UEFA Super Cup.

Milan vs. Barcelona

Milan beat Barcelona on penalties in a friendly match.

The match took place in Baltimore, Maryland. The regular time of the match ended in a draw - 2:2. The Catalans responded to goals by Luka Jovic (10') and Christian Pulisic (15') with a double by Robert Lewandowski (22', 58').

Milan were stronger in the penalty shootout - 4:3. The decisive factor was a miss by Barcelona defender Mikael Faye.

On Monday, August 12, Barcelona will play their final friendly against Monaco, while the following day, Milan will finish their preparations for the season against Monza.

The teams will open the new season on August 17. Milan will play Torino at home that day, while Barcelona will play Valencia away.

On August 17, Turkmen mixed martial artist Dovletjan Yagshimuradov will have a main fight in the semifinals of the regular season of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) tournament. In this important fight, his opponent will be Australian Rob Wilkinson.

The fight between Yagshimuradov and Wilkinson will take place in Hollywood, USA, and will begin at approximately 06:00 Ashgabat time. This fight will decide which of the fighters will be able to reach the finals of the tournament in the light heavyweight category.

Dovletjan Yagshimuradov successfully overcame the previous stage of the tournament, defeating Cameroonian Simon Biyong. This result secured him a place in the semifinals. In turn, Rob Wilkinson, his upcoming opponent, defeated American fighter Joshua Silva by split decision in his last fight.

Both fighters have shown great skill and confidence in the octagon, making their upcoming fight especially exciting for mixed martial arts fans.

For the first time in the history of national tennis, a representative of Turkmenistan will take part in the junior qualifying tournament of Roland Garros, which will be held from August 5 to 9 on the courts of the Gorky Tennis Park in Almaty.

Sabrina Rahmanova achieved the right to represent our country in such prestigious competitions, having received a wild card from the organizers - an invitation bypassing the standard requirements for participation in this competition.

“This event has become significant not only for the athlete herself, but also for the entire tennis community of the country, opening up new horizons and opportunities for the development of tennis in Turkmenistan,” the correspondent of “ZV” was told in the National Tennis Federation.

Sabrina Rahmanova is a student of the 24th secondary school of Turkmenabat. She is a protégé of the head coach of the Turkmenistan national team Mirali Gasanov, who is also a coach of the Tennis Academy “Ashgabat”.

Sabrina will compete with 16 of the strongest tennis players under 17 from Central and Western Asia for a ticket to the main draw of the 2025 French Open Junior Championship.

She prepared hard for the upcoming qualifying tournament during a three-week training camp that took place in Uzbekistan in July this year.

Earlier, the Asian Tennis Federation and the French Tennis Federation signed a Memorandum on the development of clay tennis in Asia, as well as on holding a series of tournaments to determine the best players with the winners - a boy and a girl under 17 - being given a wild card to the main draw of the 2025 Roland Garros Junior Championship.

Roland Garros, known as the French Open, is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in professional tennis.

It is held annually on the courts of Roland Garros in Paris.

The tournament was founded in 1891 and became open to professional players in 1968.

Serdar Azmun scored in his first match for his new club "Shabab Al Ahli" from the UAE. This happened in the AFC Champions League, where his team won 4-1 in extra time against Iranian "Sepahan".

Azmun entered the field in the 61st minute of the match and scored his first goal for his new team a minute later. Thanks to this victory, "Shabab Al Ahli" advanced to the next stage of qualification, where they will meet Qatari "Al Gharafa" on August 13. The winner of this match will receive a ticket to the group stage of the tournament.

Before joining the UAE club, Azmun played for Italian Roma on loan. Last season, he played 29 matches in all competitions, scoring three goals and providing four assists.

The "Arkadag" football club, the current champion of Turkmenistan, has successfully completed preparations for the third round of the 2024 national championship. In the final match of the training camp in Romania, head coach Vladimir Bayramov’s team defeated "Rapid" Bucharest with a score of 2:0.

During the training camp in Romania, "Arkadag" played five control matches, winning four victories and suffering one defeat. The team beat "Dynamo" Bucharest (1:0), "ACS Kids Tampa Brasov" (3:2), "Sepsi OSK II" (5:0) and "Rapid" (2:0), losing only to the "Concordia" team. (0:2).

On the eve of the resumption of the Turkmenistan championship, "Arkadag" made some changes to its lineup. Goalkeeper Rahat Japarov returned to "Ahal", and his place was taken by goalkeeper Rustem Ahalliyev, who also transferred from "Ahal".

After the first half of the season, "Arkadag" confidently leads the Major League with 48 points, ahead of its closest pursuers "Altyn Asyr" (37 points) and "Ahal" (34 points). The next championship match for "Arkadag" will be held on August 17 against Turkmenbashy "Shagadam".

It is worth noting that "Arkadag", founded in April 2023, will take part in the AFC Challenge League, the third most important club tournament in Asia, for the first time this season. The draw for the group stage of this competition is scheduled for August 22.

Football club Energetik from Mary will not take part in the third round of the Turkmenistan Championship and the national Cup. This became known from the updated schedule of the 2024 season, published by Jankoyer. As a result of this decision, the championship and the Turkmenistan Cup will continue with the participation of eight teams of the Premier League.

The Football Federation of Turkmenistan announced the dates of the remaining matches of the season. The third round of the national championship will start on August 16 with a match between Akhal and the capital's Ashgabat.

The Turkmenistan Cup will begin on August 20 with quarterfinal matches, where Energetik will be replaced by Turkmenbashi Shagadam. The match for the Turkmenistan Super Cup will be held on September 29 between the teams Arkadag and Akhal.

Energetik has played in the Turkmenistan Premier League since 2015, representing the Mary velayat. At the time of leaving the tournament, the team was in 9th place in the standings with 5 points in 16 matches.

During its existence, the club twice took third place in the Turkmenistan Championship - in 2016 and 2018, which was the best result in its history.

UAE Ambassador to Turkmenistan Ahmed Al Hameli met with Deputy Chairman of the State Committee of Turkmenistan for Physical Culture and Sports Serdar Atayev in the presence of Director of the Department of International Cooperation of the State Committee Shamurad Serayev. This was reported by the press service of the UAE Embassy on its Instagram account.

During the meeting, the parties discussed the possibilities of cooperation between the two countries in the field of sports.

On the night of August 6, the finalists of the football tournament of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games, which are taking place in Paris, became known. The Spanish and French teams made it to the final, where they will fight for gold medals. While the teams of Morocco and Egypt will fight for bronze.

In the first semi-final

Spain won a comeback victory over the Moroccan team with a final score of 2:1.

The winners scored goals by Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez (65th minute) and Sevilla defender Juanlu Sanchez (85th). Fermin also recorded an assist. At the same time, the Moroccans opened the scoring first - Al Ain striker Soufiane Rahimi converted a penalty in the 37th minute.

In the second semi-final

French team playing at their home stadium, defeated Egypt in a dramatic match that required two extra times. The final score of 3:1 secured the French a place in the final.

France - Egypt - 3:1

Goals: Mateta (83, 99), Oliseh 108 - Saber (62).

Thus, on August 8, Morocco and Egypt will meet in the match for the bronze medals of the Olympic Games. And the next day, on August 9, the teams of France and Spain will fight for the main trophy of the tournament in the final match of the 2024 Olympics.