Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

The final stage of the Golden Grand Prix international wrestling tournament commemorating Azerbaijan's national leader Heydar Aliyev’s memory has today started at Baku Sport Complex.

The tournament brings together nearly 700 wrestlers from more than 50 countries.

Azerbaijan's hopes will be pinned on 22 wrestlers.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.

The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive Games.

Azerbaijan left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 18 medals, signifying the nation's most successful Olympic outcome in its independent history. Nine of these medals were distributed to the Azerbaijani team in wrestling, three in taekwondo for the first time, and two each in boxing, sprint canoeing, and judo.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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