National gymnast brings bronze from Norway

By Laman Ismayilova

National gymnast Daria Sorokina won the bronze medal at an international rhythmic gymnastics tournament -- Asker Cup 2018 taken place in Oslo, Norway on January 12-15.

The athlete took the third place with gymnastics hoop, followed by Slovenian and Ukrainian gymnasts, who earned gold and silver respectively.

The national team was represented in two age categories.

Daria Farshbafshahriari, the young gymnast of national team, took the fourth place with the best result in the ribbon. Her teammate Yelyzaveta Luzan was fifth in the performance with a rope.

The history of foundation and development of rhythmic gymnastics in Azerbaijan dates back to the 1940s. 

Performing at the 2003 World Championships in Budapest, Azerbaijani gymnast Dinara Gimatova for the first time in the history of the national rhythmic gymnastics qualified for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. However, serious injury prevented her performance at the Olympics and Anna Gurbanova replaced her.

For the first time in the history of the country Aliya Garayeva became the champion of Europe, performing with a rope at the 2007 European Championships.

Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF), which was founded in 1956, has experienced revival since 2002 and the renewed federation lifted this popular sport to a new level. Currently, AGF comprises seven gymnastics disciplines recognized by the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG).

The National Gymnastics Arena specialized in all six competitive gymnastics disciplines and hosted all large-scale competitions held in Baku from the day of its opening in 2014, is in the spotlight of not only the gymnasts, willingly joining the training camp, but, all the sports fans from different countries of the world with its uniqueness.

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

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