Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijani athletes continue to achieve successes in the sporting world, as 27-year-old wrestler Maria Stadnik at 48kg made a furor in the 2016 European Wrestling Championships held in Riga on March 8.

In the final the Azerbaijani representative was stronger than Romanian Emilia Wook and took gold medal, the gift she made to herself and the national team for the International Women’s Day.

Stadnik could not hide her happiness, since it’s her fifth victory at the European Championships, as previously she won in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014.

“Winning at the European Championships has got into my habit,” said Stadnik. “But every time it's a new experience. But it’s not comparable to the first victory,” she said, adding that she’d like to perform at one or two tournaments before the Olympics.

European Championship was held as a phase of preparation for the Olympic Games, which is the most important competition for any athlete, the wrestler said.

“I already have a license, I should only purposefully prepare for the Rio Games,” she added.

In 2006, Maria played for Ukraine and won the European Championship in Moscow, but was disqualified for doping. Then she accepted an offer of Azerbaijan.

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics Stadnik won bronze and silver, respectively. Thus, Stadnik became the first female wrestler, who brought an Olympic medal to Azerbaijan.

Stadnik earn her seventh gold for Azerbaijan at 1st European Games held in Baku this summer. For high achievements at the European Games and great contribution to the development of sport in Azerbaijan, Maria was awarded the prestigious Order of "Glory".

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

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