Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan’s National Olympic Committee congratulated a new round of Azerbaijani athletes who won medals at the inaugural European Games on June 17.

The committee awarded gold medalist wrestler Anzhela Dorogan, silver medalist canoeist Valentin Demyanenko, and bronze medalist taekwondo fighter Patimat Abakarova with diplomas and gifts.

The ceremony was attended by Chingiz Huseynzade, the vice-president of the NOC, Minster of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov, and Education Minister Mikayil Jabbarov.

They expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will win more medals in the coming days.

During the ceremony, Rahimov congratulated Jabbarov for his election to the post of the head of Azerbaijan Badminton Federation and wished him success.

Baku 2015 is the first-ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent that is underway in the capital from June 12 to 28.

More than 6,000 athletes from 50 European countries compete in 20 sporting events. Some 16 of the sports are Olympic and four are non-Olympic.

Azerbaijan joined the struggle for supremacy in the largest sporting event in Europe with 291 athletes. Azerbaijani athletes are participating in all sports, giving them an opportunity to win medals in all of the competitions. The team stands at the second place, following Russia with a total of 19 medals, including eight gold, three silver and eight bronze medals.

Azerbaijani gold medal winners receive 100,000 manats (over $95.300), silver winners are awarded 50,000 manats (over $47,600), and bronze medal winners receive 30,000 manats (over $28,600).

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz