Azernews.Az

The joy of victory at the first European Games in Baku is simply tremendous, said Russian gymnasts Georgy Pataraya and Marina Chernova, who won a gold medal in acrobatic gymnastics mixed doubles at the ongoing event.

“We feel a tremendous joy of victory at the first European Games and the performance itself,” said the Russian gymnasts. “It's an inexpressible feeling, one has to simply feel it. For today we are happy, but we still have the final exercises ahead, so we do not relax.”

The athletes said that they were delighted with the organization of competitions.

“Everything is very cool, the organizers have tried very hard,” said the gymnasts. “For us it is like the Olympic Games, as the acrobatic gymnastics has been included in the program of major events for the first time, and it is something unimaginable for us. Baku is a beautiful city, one does not want to leave.”

“The National Gymnastics Arena is very large, unusual,” they said. “We usually have faded arenas, but here everything is bright. There are not enough words to describe how hospitable the people of Azerbaijan are! They give you energy and positive emotions. Thank you for such an organization! I am sure that Azerbaijan will hold a lot of major events in the future.”

The European Games that kicked off in Baku June 12, will last till June 28. There is a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports.

More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe came to Baku to represent their nations over 17 days of competition. Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.

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