Renowned judoka Somon Mahmadbekov has been named the best athlete of 2024 in Tajikistan by the Association of Sports Journalists of Tajikistan (ASJT).

ASJT Chairman Narzullo Latipov announced that Mahmadbekov, who won bronze medals at both the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and the World Judo Championship in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in the under-81 kg weight category, received the highest score in a poll conducted among the country’s sports journalists.

Sports journalists selected the top ten Tajik athletes of the year, representing four disciplines: boxing, judo, freestyle wrestling, and sambo.

The 2024 ASJT rankings are as follows:

  1. Somon Mahmadbekov (Judo) – Bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris (France) and the World Judo Championship in Abu Dhabi (UAE) in the under-81 kg category.
  2. Temour Rahimov (Judo) – Bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris (France) in the +100 kg category.
  3. Davlat Boltayev (Boxing) – Bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris (France) in the under-92 kg category.
  4. Abdulmajid Kudiev (Freestyle Wrestling) – Bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championship in Tirana (Albania) in the under-70 kg category.
  5. Akmal Ubaidov (Boxing) – Gold medalist at the Asian Championship in Chiang Mai (Thailand) in the under-60 kg category.
  6. Viktor Rassadin (Freestyle Wrestling) – Silver medalist at the Asian Championship in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) in the under-74 kg category.
  7. Parviz Karimov (Boxing) – Silver medalist at the Asian Championship in Chiang Mai (Thailand) in the under-92 kg category.
  8. Emomali Nouraliyev (Judo) – Gold medalist at the Tashkent Grand Slam 2024 in the under-66 kg category.
  9. Muhammadsoleh Quvvatov (Judo) – Gold medalist at the Dushanbe Grand Slam 2024 in the under-60 kg category.
  10. Sorbon Latifov (Sambo) – Bronze medalist at the World Sambo Championship in Astana (Kazakhstan) in the under-64 kg category.

This recognition highlights Mahmadbekov’s remarkable achievements and the success of Tajik athletes across various international competitions.