Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The Baku Gymnastics School hosted a festival competition in rhythmic gymnastics on May 19.

The competition was held as part of the sport events, promoting gymnastics disciplines included in the program of the inaugural European Games scheduled for this June in Baku.

No winner was announced as the competition had only propaganda character.

Some 54 colorful performances of little gymnasts were warmly welcomed by public.

“Today gymnastic sports are gaining popularity in Azerbaijan,” Vasif Mammadov, the head of the Education Ministry’s sports sector told Trend.

Mammadov noted that the competitions held in Baku Gymnastics School have raised interest of many people, so that even during holidays parents bring their children to gymnastics school.

“Parents show great interest. So, the hall is full of people. We believe that such events will allow the younger generation to feel the atmosphere of the European Games. At the same time, the main goal is to grow up healthy young generation, and increase interest in the sport," he said.

The next festival is scheduled for May 25-26.

Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take place on June 12-28.

There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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