TURKMENISTAN It wasn’t quite a gold medal, but it still meant a lot to Turkmenistan, a sparsely populated nation in Central Asia. Polina Guryeva was the first athlete representing an independent Turkmenistan, rather than the former Soviet Union, to stand on an Olympic podium with silver in weightlifting. Her final lift to secure a medal sparked vocal celebrations among team officials in the audience, who embraced and held up large flags. “I think I’ve entered the history of Turkmenistan,” Guryeva said.
AP