HISTORICAL MEDAL

The first international competition of 2022 held in Azerbaijan was the FIG World Championship in Trampoline Gymnastics. At this prestigious competition with 52 gymnasts from 13 countries, Azerbaijan was represented by Seljan Maqsudova.

On her first attempt, the 19-year-old Azerbaijani athlete scored 52.720. With a score of 53.100 on her second attempt, Seljan made it to the final stage of the tournament as group leader.

Soon after that, Seljan scored 52.780 for her performance in the final stage and made it to the podium. She won a silver medal and lost to Irina Kundius of Russia (53.900). The bronze medal winner (51.820) was an Italian athlete Giorgia Giampieri.

The first ever

Seljan’s medal was the first ever achievement in the history of Azerbaijani trampoline gymnastics made in an individual competition among women. The development of trampoline gymnastics in Azerbaijan began at the end of 2013. Yet the last world championship in this sport was held in Baku for the fifth time.

Seljan Maqsudova shared her impressions with us: “I am very happy to have a silver medal of the world championship. I've been preparing for this competition for a long time. I want to thank the management of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, my coaches, everyone who supported me in this competition for the medal.”

The silver medallist also expressed her views on the new rules in trampoline gymnastics: “Performing under the new rules is more comfortable. Now we have two attempts at the qualification stage. This gives some advantages for the athletes to perform more confidently. If the first performance is not satisfactory, we can try in the second attempt.” 

Seljan added that she believed in her success despite the strong competition: “Our main rivals were athletes from Russia and Belarus. Our mission was to perform accurately and reach the finals. I have trained a lot and I knew that I could win a medal. I dedicate my victory to the memory of my deceased grandmother. She did a lot for my growth and my sporting career.”

New rules

Vladimir Shulikin, head coach of the Azerbaijani national trampoline team, noted that Seljan had worked hard to achieve success in the senior group: "Our first goal was to qualify for the finals. Then we focused on winning a medal. Athletes tried out the new rules at the championship. I think they had a positive impact on performances. Now it is up to us to choose a more difficult or a simpler combination for the second attempt based on the scores of our opponents. Seljan has recently joined the adult team, so she needs to work on herself more. We still have qualification competitions for the world championship, as well as European championship in Italy and the next world championship in Bulgaria in November. Next year the athletes will start earning qualifiaction points for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. We will also try to get licenced for Paris.”  

Waiting for acrobats

Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation is organising another prestigious competition in March—the world championship on one of the most interesting and exciting types of gymnastics—acrobatic gymnastics. The tournament will be held for the first time in Baku on March 10-13. We expect 190 athletes from 21 countries to attend the event. During four days, they will compete in men's and women's pairs, as well as in the men's and women's programs for balance, dynamic and combined exercises. Azerbaijan will be represented by European junior champions Daniel Abbasov and Murad Rafiyev, international championships Sabir Aghayev and Mehriban Salamova, silver and bronze medallists Aghasif Rahimov and Raziya Seyidli.