Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan’s First Global Challenge 2026 robotics team and its coaches were honoured at a ceremony held at the Inno Innovation Training and Production Technopark on 13 October, following the team’s record-setting performance at the international competition in South Korea.
On the same day, Uzbekistan’s President signed a decree awarding the competition’s winners and their coaches, the Ministry of Digital Technologies said.
The awards were presented by First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Science Erkinjon Turdimov, Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov and Youth Affairs Agency Director Alisher Sadullayev.
Speaking at the ceremony, Turdimov said young people’s achievements in science and technology were important for the country’s future.
“This recognition represents great trust in every young person in our country who strives for knowledge and is capable of creating something new. I believe the technologies you develop will contribute to industrial development, water and energy conservation, and making people’s lives easier,” he said.
The awards recognised the Uzbek team’s performance at the competition, held from 7 to 10 October in Incheon, South Korea. The team won three gold medals, secured victories in all 16 matches and set a tournament record by scoring 637 points.
Teams of young people from nearly 190 countries took part in the event.
Uzbekistan won one of its gold medals as part of the first alliance, which included teams from Uzbekistan, Venezuela, El Salvador and Moldova. The alliance won the final and received the Winning Alliance title.
The Uzbek team secured another gold medal for achieving the highest score in the tournament, earning the top prize, the FIRST Global Grand Challenge Award.
First Global is an international initiative aimed at promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) among young people.
The organisation is associated with the FIRST movement, founded by American inventor Dean Kamen, president of research and development company DEKA and creator of the Segway device.
The 2026 competition was held under the theme “Fueling Innovation”.
Participants completed robotics challenges based on global issues involving the prevention of forest fires, the mitigation of their consequences and the restoration of affected areas.
