BETTER THAN EXPECTED

The trainees of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation collected a whole bunch of awards at the First European Games. The participants in all six types of gymnastics included in the European Games programme, Azerbaijani sportsmen, exceeded the wildest expectations, winning a total of seven awards.

The results of the gymnastics competitions are especially worthy of mention, since that is a relatively new form of sport in our country.

The Azerbaijani team managed to achieve their first successes in the group exercises. The team consisting of Oleg Stepko, Petr Pahnuk and Eldar Safarov joined in the fight for medals among six teams. The six exercises resulted in a bronze medal for the country's team, in the wake of the Russian and Ukrainian teams.

Oleg Stepko went on to win the "silver" in the individual All-round and became the first Azerbaijani sportsman to win two medals at the European Games. But that was only the beginning for Stepko. After that, the 21-year-old gymnast won the gold medal for his performance on the parallel bars, a silver for the contest on the horse and a bronze for the vaulting. So, Stepko won five medals at the First European Games - one "gold", two "silver" and two "bronze. This was the best result among all the gymnasts competing in the European Games; another four sportsmen won four medals and nine won three.

In an interview with Regionplus, Stepko noted that he had not expected to win such a bunch of awards. "I expected that I would win medals, but I never dreamt I would win five. At any rate, I never predict beforehand how many medals I will able to win. I put every effort into my training sessions, and that has paid off. It was a hard fight though, because the strongest gymnasts came to the European Games. After the first performance, I already understood that it was not going to be an easy ride. I wasn't worried because I have experience of performing at prestigious competitions. 

The support of the audience and an almost full arena create a special sensation. You understand that your success will bring pleasure to hundreds of people. I focused on giving an ideal performance of the exercises since errors would lower my final marks. Before the competitions we did not talk about the medals we wanted to win. In general, it is not good to give interviews before the competitions. All your opponents learn what you are after. But predictions are not popular in sport. Therefore all your thoughts need to be directed towards the competitions," O. Stepko said.

The five-medal-winner noted that this result would play a particular part in his future career. Stepko noted the fine design of the medals. "The awards are fairly heavy, but it is a great honour to wear them. These awards will occupy a special place in my home," O. Stepko said.

He said how very grateful he was to the Azerbaijani Gymnastics Federation for the splendid conditions that had been created and to all the coaching staff. 

Ilya Grishin also won a medal in the gymnastics. He came third in the individual competitions on the trampoline behind Russia and Belarus.

After the award ceremony, Grishin noted that he had set himself the goal of being among the prize-winners at the European Games. "From a psychological point of view, I was well prepared. I did everything I could and achieved a result. My main rival in the fight for the medals was a French sportsman, but he made an error at the end of his programme. After that, I felt sure that I would win a medal," I. Grishin said.

Marina Durunda, the leader of the Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnastics team added another medal to the gymnasts' collection. She won the "silver" in the individual competitions with the ribbons, only coming second to the world champion from Russia, Yana Kudryavtseva. The third place in this section was taken by the Georgian Salome Pazhava.

"I experienced the most worrying moment of my life. As the tournament went on, I thought that I had to justify the trust vested in me by the fans and the federation. After making an error in the performance with the ball, I focused all my attention on the ribbons. This silver medal is very dear to me. You see, the European Games is taking place in my native Baku and I won the medal here, which means it is a big success for me. Our gymnasts have spent several months training for the competitions, so we felt sure we would achieve success. Our efforts have paid off, and we were able to raise our own flag in this splendid arena. I dedicate my award to the Azerbaijani people who always shared the experience with me," M. Durunda told Regionplus.

The medals won at the European Games showed that the Azerbaijani Gymnastics Federation (FGA) is paying attention to all forms of this sport, in order to encourage real interest among the population. The activity of the gymnastics schools in the regions is helping to form the future basis of the national teams. One interesting fact is that the tickets for the rhythmic gymnastics competitions were sold out long before the battle in the National Gymnastics Arena, which shows the great interest in it.

It is noteworthy that not everything went that smoothly at the rhythmic gymnastics competitions - the Azerbaijani team was faced with biased assessments. As in the last European championships in Minsk, the judges reduced the marks for the Azerbaijani female gymnasts' error-free performances. As a result, the spectators whistled at the president of the rhythmic gymnastics technical committee from the European Gymnastics Union, Heide Bruneder, at one of the award ceremonies. Com-menting on the frustration of the spectators, the vice-president of the Azerbaijani Gymnastics Federation, Altay Hasanov, said that the judges' errors and bias were affecting the sportsmen's performance. He noted that gymnastics is a form of sport in which the assessment is subjective, so the judges have an important part to play. As this type of sport develops in Azerbaijan, the spectators are beginning to understand the ins and outs of the competition better: "When the judges make a biased assessment, the spectators already understand that and express their frustration. That is a natural process observed throughout the world."

He said that Marina Durunda's winning of the silver medal was on a par with winning the gold. "The Russian female gymnasts were very strong. So, for us that "silver" was equivalent to "gold". We are pleased that we have at last managed to achieve a result like this. Persistent hard work, talented sportsmen and coaches, the support of the Gymnastics Federation and of its head, Mehriban Aliyeva, personally have made possible this fine performance by the Azerbaijani gymnasts at the First European Games. There is a lot of competition in rhythmic gymnastics, but at last we have managed to get a great result," A. Hasanov said.

After the European Games the World Championship in Germany awaits the Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnastics team. They will already begin training in July for the world championship, which is to take place in September.