First Tajik Olympic Medalist Resorts To Driving Taxi
Rasul Boqiev hopes to win more medals for Tajikistan
January 30, 2009
DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's first-ever Olympic medalist is working as a taxi driver in Moscow to make ends meet.
Rasul Boqiev -- who won a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- says he continues to train and hopes to win more medals for Tajikistan.
His father and first trainer, Khudoinazar Boqiev, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that his son received Tajikistan's Medal of Honor and $2,300 from the Tajik government after the Olympics, but soon had to move to Russia to find work.