JUST EIGHT GET THREE MEDALS

Azerbaijani sportsmen have won three medals at the World University Games in the South Korean city of Gwangju. It is pleasing that two of them were golds. Anna Skidan and Hayle Ibrahimov worthily defended their country's sporting honour.

Hayle Ibrahimov was originally regarded as the favourite in the men's 5,000-metre race, already achieving the best results in the preliminary stages. In the final, he also won by a big lead. 

The Moroccan Zuhair Talbi, who came second, was 20 seconds behind the Azerbaijani runner. This resulted in Hayle Ibrahimov winning the gold medal. Winning at the World University Games for the second time in a row, Ibrahimov justified his coaches' hopes in him.

Hayle IBRAHIMOV shared his impressions of the Universiade in Gwangju with Regionplus: "On the day before, I felt a bit tired as I had entered two competitions in a row. We set out for Korea as soon as the First European Games ended and did not manage to have a rest. I am glad that I won the gold medal. This is my second gold medal at the universiades. I made it to the top of the podium of honour at the last Universiade four years ago in Kazan [Russia] as well. I managed to get through the first stage easily. The challenge in the finals was quite different. The rivals were stronger, and I was much more nervous. The slightest mistake can leave a sportsman without a medal. By conserving my strength correctly, I was first over the finishing line. I feel happy to have won."

Anna Skidan won another gold medal for the team in tossing the hammer competitions. This is a sportswoman who gained a licence to the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro long ago at the competitions in Moldova, and at the Universiade she was also among the favourites. Skidan justified the forecasts that she would win confidently. The competitions in South Korea have offered a splendid opportunity to get to know the rivals better on the eve of the Olympics.

Each athlete was allowed six throws in the final. The fifth throw was the best for the Azerbaijani hammer thrower. Tossing the hammer 70.67 metres, Skidan became the champion, beating the silver-medal-winner from Poland by a whole metre. 

This is what Anna Skidan, one of the main medal hopes in the Brazil Olympics, had to say about being champion. "When I set off for Korea, I didn't disguise my intentions to win a medal. Although I did not have comprehensive information about my rivals, I showed with my performance that I was the strongest. In the final, my first throws were not as successful as I would have liked. To be more exact, I saved my strength for the subsequent throws. As a rule, the first and second throws do not produce the desired result. My fifth throw provided me with the gold medal. The whole of our delegation contributed to that success. I congratulate everyone."

The third medal was registered in the judokas' collection. Entering in the 73-kilogram weight category, Huseyn Rahimli lost the first bout to a Japanese sportsman, but owing to the fact that the latter went out in the semi-final, he got the opportunity to fight for the bronze medal. In order to win it, Huseyn won consecutive bouts with judokas from Romania, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and showed that he was worthy of this medal. It is interesting that the Japanese sportsman who defeated Ragimli in the first bout only got a bronze medal as well.

This is what Huseyn Rahimli himself thought about his defeat: "At the Universiade the competition in the judo contests was extremely challenging. In order to win the bronze medal I had to win five bouts. As far as my defeat in the first bout is concerned, although the Japanese sportsman was very strong, I did not regard myself as being weaker than him.

It was simply that we both decided not to take risks in the first bout. At the end of the bout, I had four penalty points and he had three. Therefore the win was awarded to the Japanese. At any rate, I shall have a Universiade medal for my collection. I aim to go on training and to become a member of the main team."

For Azerbaijan, which was only represented by eight sportsmen, to get three medals at the World University Games, it is a good result. What is more, two of them were gold ones. Thanks to these medals Azerbaijan occupied 27th place in the team ratings. The top three places were taken by the teams from South Korea, Russia and China.

We would like to note that the next World Universiade is to take place in 2019. Brazil, which was to host these competitions has backed out. In this connection, the international organisations have offered Azerbaijan these competitions. For the moment the country has not announced its final decision with regard to this proposal.