A SHOWER OF MEDALS

The past 2016 will be remembered with bright victories and new records of Azerbaijani sportsmen.

Traditionally, the National Olympic Committee (NOC) with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev summed up the sport results of 2016.

"Today Azerbaijan is known as a strong sports power in the world. We have achieved brilliant sports successes. Every year we increase our athletic performance, achievements. If we look at the results of the Olympic Games, we can see that the number of medals won by Azerbaijan has increased. We are in constant development. I am sure that the progress will continue in the future but it will be difficult to repeat the results of recent Olympic Games. However, I remember well that every time when summing up the Olympic Games after 2000, we had similar thoughts. However, we not only repeated the results of previous games but also improved them", said President Aliyev at the NOC convention.

He stressed that in recent years Azerbaijan had a very strong generation of athletes. "Our young people, the athletes who were born and grew up during the period of independence, currently multiply our sporting glory. 2016 will have a special place in the sports history of our country. First of all, because in 2016 we won a historic victory at the Summer Olympics in Rio. More than 200 countries participated in these games. By the number of medals, we are ranked the 7^th among the European countries, the 14^th in the world, the 2^nd among the CIS countries, and the 1^st place in the Muslim world. This is a great historic victory, as a testament to the strength of our athletes, and the state. Because strong sports and excellent sports results are possible only in developed countries", said the president.

I. Aliyev stressed that the Formula-1 race organized in Baku contributed to further popularization of Azerbaijan in the world: "Formula-1 has once again demonstrated the power of our country. Because not every country can take on this responsibility, it is difficult. These competitions gather an audience of five hundred million viewers, monitored on every continent; the whole world could see the beauty of our city, the hospitality of our people. We had planned that the number of visitors to our country after would increase during the competition, and we achieved this goal. The number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan from some countries increased 30-40 times, and this process continues. Because today Azerbaijan is known worldwide as a powerful country with the most modern infrastructure, excellent services, a country where security is provided. The synthesis of all these factors has turned Azerbaijan into a very attractive country for foreign tourists. If we add to this wonderful climate, excellent cuisine, historic monuments, 9 climatic zones, the more time you can make sure that we are truly happy people, because we live in such a beautiful country and make it even more beautiful," said President Aliyev.

"Next year we will hold Islamic Solidarity Games, and it is very symbolic. Both the European and Islamic games are held in one country, in the same city for two years. This demonstrates our intention, as sporting events, including the European games, were not merely a sports event, it was a holiday of friendship, solidarity", stressed the President.

A group of athletes and sports professionals were awarded for merits in the development of the national sport.

In accordance with the action plan approved by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 2016, 203 national events and 52 international tournaments were organized. Azerbaijani athletes defended the sports honor of Azerbaijan in 198 international competitions.

In general, Azerbaijani sportsmen won 837 medals, including 297 gold, 250 silver and 290 bronze medals in 2016 at various Olympic and non-Olympic international competitions: the Olympic Games, World and European championships, tournaments and World Cup.

Football

Azerbaijani national team successfully started qualification games for the 2018 World Cup. It was the first time our team did not lose three matches in a row. Scored 7 points after 4 games, Robert Prosinecki’s team finished 2016 as the 90^th strong team of the world.

Garabagh FC of Agdam once again became the champion of Azerbaijan and won the Cup. Gurban Gurbanov's team for the third time in a row won a ticket to the group stage of the Europa League. Retaining the chances of reaching the playoffs until the end, Garabagh entered a new record in the history of national football with 7 points.

Gabala FC coached by Roman Hryhorczuk received the opportunity to participate in the Europa League for the second time in a row. Although Gabala did not score points in the group stage, it showed good football.

Wrestling

2016 was successful and memorable for Azerbaijani wrestlers. The national teams achieved good results in international and other championships. They won a total of 86 medals (17 gold, 23 silver and 46 bronze medals) in official international competitions including the Olympic Games, World and European Championships in 2016. For the last 8 years, our wrestlers were steadily improving. In 2009, they won 47 medals, in 2016 - already 86 medals.

Having won earlier this year in Riga at the European Championships 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals, wrestlers successfully started the year. Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestlers won then the 3^rd place in the team standings.

The wrestlers have demonstrated an adequate performance during the Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro. Having won 9 medals (3 silver and 6 bronze), they have written a new page in the history of our wrestling. Our national freestylers’ team was ahead of any other team with 5 medals per 6 wrestlers.

In general, all competition teams of different age groups in 2016 won 255 medals (62 gold, 61 silver and 132 bronze), including 130 medals in freestyle and 94 in Greco-Roman wrestling. Female wrestlers has brought another set of 31 medals.

In 2017, the Azerbaijani wrestlers are tasked to show yet another successfully performance at the Islamic Games.

Boxing

Our boxers achieved the biggest success at the summer Olympic Games in Rio. Lorenzo Sotomayor, representing Azerbaijan for the first time, was awarded the silver medal of the Olympics. The young athlete Kamran Shahsuvarly won a bronze medal. The national female team of Azerbaijan excelled at the European Championship held in Bulgaria and for the first time won 4 medals: 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.

Judo

The national team of Azerbaijan won two medals at the Summer Olympics in Rio. Losing only in the final tournament, Rustam Orujov and Elmar Gasimov won the second place. At the European Championships, Rustam Orujov and Orkhan Safarov won gold and silver medals, respectively. In the team competition, our judokas won bronze medals for the first time in the history of Azerbaijani sport.

Chess

For the first time, the World Chess Olympiad was held in Baku and attended by over 2 thousand players from 176 countries around the world. FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that Baku Chess Olympiad would be remembered as the most magnificent event of all held so far.

Women’s chess team has demonstrated successful performance at the Olympiad and finished the eight among 145 countries. Gulnar Mammadova was awarded the gold medal in the individual competition for the best score on the second board.

The traditional Vugar Gashimov Memorial held in Shamkir ended with the victory of the Azerbaijani chess player for the first time. Shahriyar Mammadyarov has inscribed his name in history as the first Azerbaijani grandmaster, who won the tournament of the 21^st category.

Rauf Mamedov won the silver medal at the European Championship in rapid chess.

Taekwondo

2016 was the most successful year in the history of taekwondo. Radik Isaev became the champion of the Summer Olympic Games the first time while Milad Beigi Harchegani and Patimat Abakarova won bronze medals of the Olympics.

Harchegani was also awarded gold award at the final stage of the tournament at the world Grand Prix tournament. The national team of Azerbaijan was ranked the first in team competition of the world championship second year in a row.

Gymnastics

Two athletes represented Azerbaijan at the Summer Olympics. Marina Durunda in artistic gymnastic and Oleg Stepko in sport gymnastics.

Having won 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in the World Cup organized in Baku, Oleg Stepko proved that he was among the strongest athletes of the continent. Marina Durunda completed the World Cup competition with a bronze medal. Our acrobatic group team representing Azerbaijan at the World Cup, Aynur Huseynova, Lala Huseynova, and Narmin Ramazanova, were the third strongest team of the tournament.

Azerbaijani gymnasts won two silver medals in world championship held In China. Our athletes won a bronze medal at the European Championship winning the competition on double mini trampolines.

For the first time in the history of the Azerbaijani gymnastics, Rza Aliyev reached the category of international arbiter of I degree in men's gymnastics and guaranteed his participation as a referee at the most prestigious competitions.

Rowing

Azerbaijan achieved the biggest success during the last Summer Olympic Games. Valentin Demyanenko and Inna Osipenko-Radom, who won silver and bronze medals, respectively, contributed to the success of the Azerbaijani national team. In addition, these athletes were among the winners at the World Cup competition.

In 2017, Azerbaijani athletes are waiting for a serious test in a number of prestigious competitions, in which they will please us with their bright victories.