DUSHANBE, August 18, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Bahodur Qodirov has grabbed the second medal for Tajikistan in the I Summer Youth Olympic Games, finishing second in the men’s freestyle wrestling 63 kilogram competition in Singapore.

In the final that was held on August 17, Bahodur competed for gold with Russia’s Azamatbi Pshnatlov and unfortunately lost.

We will recall that in the round of 16, Bahodur defeated Algerian wrestler Muhammad Budara and in the quarterfinal he beat Amadeus Pereira of Guinea-Bissau.  In the semifinal, Tajik wrestler defeated Kwinton Murphy of the United States.

It is the second medal of Tajikistan in the I Summer Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.  The first one, bronze medal, was won by Shukrona Sharifova.  She won the bronze medal in the women’s taekwon-do (WTF) 44 kilogram competition.

Six athletes have represented Tajikistan in the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore that are being held from August 14 to August 26, 2010.   Among them are Bahodur Qodirov (free-style wrestling), Abduqodir Barotov (hummer throwing), Christina Zayniddinova (archery), Shukrona Sharifova (taekwon-do WTF), D. Atabayev (200-meter race), and Siyovoush Zuhurov (boxing).

The 2010 Summer Youth Olympic Games (officially known as I Summer Youth Olympic Games) is the inaugural event of the Summer Youth Olympics, a major international sports and cultural festival to be celebrated in the tradition of the Summer Olympic Games.  More than 3,500 athletes are participating in Youth Olympic Games (YOG) that features 26 sports, forming a total of 31 disciplines.  The Youth Olympic Games features athletes between the ages of 14 and 18.

The summer version lasts twelve days and the winter version will last a maximum of nine days, with the first edition taking place in early 2012.  The IOC allows a maximum of 3,500 athletes and 875 officials to participate at the summer games, while 970 athletes and 580 officials are expected at the winter games.