2017 remembered with significant sporting events
By Aygul Salmanova
A press conference regarding the election of the Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) Farid Gayibov as the president of the European Gymnastics Union (UEG) was held by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) on December 6.
Besides Gayibov, the event was attended by Vice-President of NOC Chingiz Huseynzade and Vice-President of National Gymnastics Federation Altay Hasanov.
The newly-elected president said he does not set a goal to be remembered by anyone, but simply will do his job.
“The European gymnastics federations trusted me and elected me as the UEG president, and in the next four years I will try to fulfill my duties conscientiously. As you know, every two years I will have to make a report and I will do everything necessary to present in two years' time a report on the work done. I hope that after four years, I will get the opportunity to be re-elected as the president of UEG,” Gaibov said.
Gayibov was elected as the UEG president on December 2, when 50 member Federations of the union elected the new authorities at the 27th Congress in Split, Croatia.
He gained 28 votes, leaving behind Edvard Kolar, President of the Management Board of the Slovenian Sports Lottery, who received 20 votes. Gayibov will replace Georges Guelzec (FRA), who led the UEG since 2009.
While commenting on the Gayibov’s election, Hasanov stressed on significance of this achievement.
“Today we have many successes. We have the necessary experience, organizational skills in the field of sports. The European sports community once again proved this by choosing this post,” he said.
Hasanov also spoke about the Azerbaijani gymnastics noting that a new generation grows under the leadership of the team's head coach Mariana Vasileja.
While delivering opening remarks, Huseynzade noted that the year 2017 became very successful for sports in Azerbaijan.
“Usually, we sum up and name specific results at the end of the year, but already now, in early December, we can say that a great number of significant events occurred in most sports disciplines in 2017,” the president of NOC said.
He said a big number of significant sports competitions were held in Azerbaijan in 2017.
“Among these significant sports competitions is the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games,” he said. “For the first time in history, two Azerbaijani athletes have become triple world champions this year.”
“This year we have also celebrated the 25th anniversary of the National Olympic Committee,” he said. “Finally, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) Farid Gayibov was elected president of the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) in December.”
Azerbaijan is known as a sporting power across the world with both sport of high achievements and mass sports being popular in the country.
Athletes - Azerbaijani delegates participate in the most prestigious international competitions on a regular basis. The number of medals won by national athletes gradually increases.
Recently the young athlete Mikhail Malkin has become the winner of the 25th World Tambling competitions held in Sofia.
Notably, Azerbaijani men's chess team has claimed a glorious victory in the history of national chess, becoming the third-time European champion during the last eight years. The national GM recently achieved a historic success, as he entered the Top 5 in the World Chess Federation ranking for the first time in 2017.
Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county. Azerbaijani wrestler Haji Aliyev (61 kg) has claimed a gold medal at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships in Paris, France.
Another significant level in Azerbaijani sport was achieved by the country’s football team Qarabag which reached which broke into the group stage of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the history of the national football.
Additionally, Azerbaijan regularly hosts large-scale international competitions.
The international sporting community entrusted holding of the European Games for the first time in history namely to Azerbaijan.
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