Azerbaijani athlete wins license for Olympics in Tokyo
By Rasana Gasimova
Azerbaijani wrestler Mariya Stadnik (50 kg) won a license for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.
She made it to the semifinals in the World Wrestling Championship, held in Nur-Sultan, Trend reports on September 17.
In the quarter-final, Stadnik defeated Russian Ekaterina Polishchuk, securing a place in the top six, and fulfilling the license norm.
Maria Stadnik met with Mercy Genesis (Nigeria) in the classification round and won ahead of time with a 10:0 score.
Stadnik’s next rival was Seema Seema (India). The match ended with a of score 9:2 in favor of the Stadnik.
Mariya Stadnik is the world champion and seven-fold European champion.
She has won a gold medal at the 2nd European Games in Minsk, held in Belarus in June 2019.
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. Nine of these medals were distributed to the Azerbaijani team in wrestling.
The Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling have rich history and unique traditions. The elements of national wrestling can be encountered on the Gobustan rocks, in folk and classical literature, and sagas.
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