The first ever medal of Tajikistan in Olympics was secured by Tajik judoka Rasoul Boqiev. This medal puts Tajikistan on 34th rank among the others. It is a bronze but I’m really proud of Rasul. Here is a brief report by AsiaPlus.

Judoka Rasoul Boqiyev won the first bronze medal in the -73 kg category yesterday, defeating Dirk van Tichelt of Belgium with a yuko and a koka. This is Tajikistan’s first medal of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

In the semifinal, our athlete lost to Wang Ki-chun, a 19-year-old judoka from the Republic of Korea, who had impressed the world with a victory over 2004 Athens champion Lee Won-hee at the 2007 World Championships.  Wang Ki-chun finished second; in the final, he lost to Azeri judoka Elnur Mammadli.

To my surprise our Olympic medalist has a quiet big profile on Wikipedia.

Rasul Boqiev (also spelled as Rasul Bokiev (Tajik: Расул Боқиев) (born 29 September 1982) is an Tajikistani judoka.

He is considered one of the top athletes in Tajikistan and the world in judoka under 73 kg. Since his first international competition at the Asian Championships Tashkent 2005, where he won the bronze medal, he has been successful in showing results of consistent improvement and athleticism.