ALMATY, Kazakhstan — The 2024 Paris Olympics began with Uzbekistan hailing its first-ever female gold medalist at the games and ended with its boxers scooping more gold medals than any other national boxing team since Cuba two decades ago.
But for some Olympics-watchers in Central Asia, these games were as much about celebrating a returned spirit of cross-country friendship as they were about podium finishes.
“There has been an incredible unity among Central Asians during the Olympics [in] 2024,” wrote Bermet Tursunkulova, who served as deputy education minister from 2014 to 2015, in…
