The largest Olympic Village in the region

Not every capital city has a modern Olympic complex that meets international standards and is ready to host large sporting events at any time. Ashgabat has!

The largest multifunctional sports complex in the region, the Olympic Village, including in over 30 different facilities, is located practically in the centre of the Turkmen capital, on an area of 157 hectares. Perfect conditions have been created in the Village for holding large international tournaments and even the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Village was built in just seven years. Its construction consisted of three stages and started on November 5, 2010. A month later, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) declared Ashgabat the venue for the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. Over 5000 athletes from 62 countries, including in Oceania, took part in the Games, which became an unprecedented event in the history of the Asian Games. The strongest continental athletes competed for medals in 21 sports provided by the Games Programme. Hundreds of thousands of spectators and millions of TV viewers witnessed exciting competitions and intense struggle that took place in Ashgabat on September 17-27, 2017.

The infrastructure of the Village includes Olympic Stadium with a capacity of 45,000. One of the largest buildings is the Complex of Game Sports, which can host the basketball, volleyball, handball, badminton, rhythmic and artistic gymnastics, fencing, table tennis, trampoline gymnastics, judo and wrestling events. The Indoor Aquatics Complex, the Indoor Athletics Arena and the Complex of Martial Arts have capacity of 5,000 each. Next to the Indoor Tennis Arena with a capacity of 4,000, there are 7 outdoor tennis courts and one court with stands for 2,000 spectators. The Indoor Cycling Track with a capacity of 6,000 meets the requirements of Category 1 UCI (International Cycling Union). Thus, this arena can host the Olympic Games, World Championships and the UCI World Championships. The UCI World Track Cycling Championships will be held here in 2021.

The comfortable conditions in the indoor sports facilities and the specialized equipment provide the opportunity to conduct year-round training sessions, competitions, qualification tournaments in accordance with the international rules and requirements.

Besides the sports complexes, the Olympic Village houses social, cultural and shopping centres, hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops, consumer services, parking lots, as well as a modern medical and recreational centre.

A network of pedestrian crossings and a monorail road are provided on the territory of the Village. Large highways of the capital surround the complex. This important factor provides unhindered access to all facilities of the Village.

On the eve of the 2017 Asian Games, Turkmenistan was awarded the certificates confirming that the facilities of the Ashgabat Olympic Village were inscribed on the Guinness World Records. They are the largest horse head sculpture over Olympic Stadium and the largest aquatics sports park.

The architectural style of the Olympic Village is organically integrated into appearance of the present-day Ashgabat, a white-marble city with wide avenues, gorgeous parks and alleys. The Olympic Village is notable for its uniform style of architecture. Almost all elements, from large architectural forms to small design developments such as street benches, lanterns or fences, are constructed in the same style. Their obligatory elements are the emblem, the mascot and the brand of the Games.

The official emblem of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games was image of the Ahalteke horse head with the green moon and little red star. The brand was the colourful tail of a flying bird, symbolizing the country's striving for high goals. The brand reflected the centuries-old history and rich cultural heritage of the Turkmen people. It embodied the spiritual wealth of the hospitable Turkmen people. The Turkmen alabay called Vepaly (in Turkmen ‘loyal’) was chosen the mascot of the V Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. After the event, the monument to this mascot, a cheerful and friendly Vepaly, was built in the Olympic Village.