Azernews.Az

By Seymur Aliyev, AzerNews Staff Writer

Azerbaijani athletes won 12 medals at the Paralympics in London, furthering the great success achieved at the Olympic Games. After the titanic efforts of the national team, Azerbaijan ranked 27^th, leaving behind a number of tough rivals, such as Turkey, Greece, Sweden, Argentina and India.

At the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008, Azerbaijan won 10 medals, taking the 37^th spot.

China is atop the list with 95 gold, 71 silver and 65 bronze medals. It is followed by Russia, with 36 gold, 38 silver and 28 bronze medals. The UK closes the top three with 34 gold, 43 silver and 43 bronze awards.

Nearly half of the medals were earned by Azerbaijani swimmer Natali Pronina. One gold and four silver medals adorn her stature. She became Paralympics champion and won gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke swimming in London. She swam the distance in 1:16.17, thus setting world record. This is the fifth medal of the Azerbaijani swimmer. Earlier, she won four silver medals in freestyle swimming at 50, 100 and 200 meters, as well as in the race on the back for 100 meters.

The next gold medal for the national team was claimed by Judoka Afag Sultanova (57 kg).

Sultanova, who joined the Games on the second day, defeated her Brazilian opponent, Lucia da Silva Teixeira, in the finals.

Another judoka, Ramin Ibrahimov, won a gold medal in men`s 60kg at the London Paralympics. He secured the medal after defeating China's Xiaodong Li with ippon.

Alexander Paniutin participating in Men's Triple Jump F-12, won the 4^th gold medal for Azerbaijan. He managed to jump at 15.2 meters.

Other medals of the lower grade in Paralympics were won in three sports: four silver medals in swimming among women, one bronze among men (+100) in judo, and one silver and two bronze in athletics.

Azerbaijan is proud of its sportsmen and is waiting for more and more victories, making the Azerbaijani flag to rise and the national anthem to sound again and again.

The Paralympic Games is a major international multi-sport event, involving athletes with a range of physical and intellectual disabilities, including mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympics Games are governed by the International Paralympics Committee (IPC).

The Paralympics have grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a large funding gap between Olympic and Paralympics athletes.

The Paralympic Games are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games, while the IOC-recognized Special Olympics World Games include athletes with intellectual disabilities, and the Deaflympics include deaf athletes.