Azernews.Az

By Seymur Aliyev, AzerNews Staff Writer

Azerbaijani athletes won two gold medals on the last day of the London Olympic Games, making the country 30th in the Olympics medal table.

Freestyle wrestlers Togrul Asgarov, vying in the 60kg weight bracket, and Sharif Sharifov (84 kg) brought gold to the national team.

In the final, Asgarov faced Russia`s Besik Kuduhov in a tough fight and was victorious.

Asgarov defeated Tim Schleicher of Germany to qualify for the Olympics quarterfinals and subsequently defeated Japan`s Kenichi Yumoto and Coleman Scott of the United States in the semifinals.

Sharif Sharifov, another freestyle wrestler, won another gold medal for Azerbaijan after defeating Jaime Yusept Espinal of the U.S. with a 6:1 score in the first round and 2:0 in the second round of the final bout.

Earlier Sharifov successfully performed in the 1/8 finals. He defeated Ibrahim Bolukbasi of Turkey to qualify for the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. In the quarterfinals Sharifov also defeated his rival from the U.S. and further defeated an Iranian wrestler and proceeded to the Olympics final.

Thus, the 53-member Azerbaijani national team ranked 30th in the Olympic rating list with two gold, two silver and six bronze medals. Azerbaijan left behind such countries as Canada, Argentina, Finland, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and Poland.

Little ``Masha`` made Azerbaijan a bit more happy with her argent medal. A member of the Azerbaijani Olympic team, Mariya Stadnik, participating in women`s 48kg freestyle wrestling, came second at the Olympic Games. She was defeated in the final by Japan`s Hitomi Obara in a close fight, claiming the second silver medal for the Azerbaijani team.

Stadnik, a world and European champion and bronze medalist at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, defeated U.S. athlete Clarissa Kyoko Mei Ling Chun, with 2-0 and 3-0 scores in the first and second rounds respectively.

In the quarterfinals she defeated Iwona Nina Matkowska of Poland. In the semifinal, she was victorious over Ukraine`s Irini Merleni (1-0, 3-0) to reach the final.

Azerbaijan`s Yulia Ratkevich won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling, competing in the 55 kg bracket. Her opponent in the semifinal match was Valeria Zholobova, an athlete from Russia. The first round ended early as Ratkevich gained a major advantage by winning 6-0. In the second round, the Azerbaijani athlete was victorious as well - 2:1.

Another striking force of Azerbaijan, heavyweight boxer Magomedrasul Majidov (91 kg) proceeded to the semi-finals of the Olympic Games in London after beating his opponent from Russia, Magomed Omarov, and won a bronze medal at the tournament.

In the semifinal match against Italian boxer Roberto Cammarelle, a two-time world champion and winner of the Beijing Olympics, Majidov won the first round - 6:4. However, the Italian boxer won the next two rounds - 6:4 and 3:2.

Another Azerbaijani boxer, Teymur Mammadov, lost in the semifinals to his Italian opponent Clemente Russo, and got a bronze medal.

Mammadov won two consecutive rounds (3:2, 6:4) but Russo managed to win the third one by a score of 9:4 and reached the final with a total score of 15:13.

Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler Khetag Gazyumov (96 kg) won a bronze medal. He was to compete with Iranian Reza Yazdani, but his opponent refused to fight because of injury.

In the quarterfinals Gazyumov faced Ukraine`s Valery Andriytsev. The first round went to the Azerbaijani wrestler, but the Ukrainian changed the course of the bout and won. Thus, Gazyumov continued vying for the bronze medal.

A great result for the Azerbaijani national team inspires huge hopes for the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Azerbaijani athletes Valentin Hristov, Rovshan Bayramov and Emin Ahmadov gained two silver medals and a bronze medal respectively.

Azerbaijan has taken part in the Summer Olympic Games since 1996. The country gained one silver medal in Atlanta in 1996, two gold medals and a bronze medal in Sydney`00, one gold and four bronze medals in Athens`04 and one gold, two silver and four bronze medals in Beijing`08. Ten medals gained at this year`s London Olympics show the progress being made in Azerbaijani sports.

Since it began more than two thousand years ago, the Olympic Games have been the competition grounds for the world`s greatest athletes. From a competition for the citizens of ancient Greece and surrounding countries, the Olympics has developed into a worldwide event. Taking part in the Games is an honor for every sportsman. And the glory of success is the highest prize for athletes and their countries.

The first place in the medal count was won by the U.S. (46,29,29; 104), followed by China (38,27,22;87). Britain closes the top three (29,17,19; 65).