HISTORICAL GOLD

The 39th Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championship in Baku ended with a historic result. In the most prestigious continental competition joined by 315 athletes from 38 countries the representatives of Azerbaijan set a new record, winning 5 medals (1 gold and 4 bronze).

Brilliant result

So far Azerbaijan has twice successfully hosted world championships and four times European competitions in rhythmic gymnastics. This time it went down in history of the sport with an excellent result.

It was the first gold medal of Azerbaijani gymnasts at European championships in the group exercise for adults. Gullu Aghalarzade, Laman Alimuradova, Kamilla Aliyeva, Zeynab Hummatova, Yelizaveta Luzan and Darya Sorokina performed perfectly with three bands and two balls, beating their opponents by 32.250 points. This earned them first place and their fans yet another chance to hear the national anthem of Azerbaijan and to see the flag of Azerbaijan raised in the National Gymnastics Arena. In the all-around the Azerbaijani team won the bronze medal.

Zohra Aghamirova brought another medal to the national team in the individual programme. On the fourth day of the championship, the experienced gymnast demonstrated her professionalism and character by winning the first ever European championship medal in her career, a bronze medal. Known for her special performance style, participation in the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, and being a twice silver medalist of universiades and a winner of the Islamic Solidarity Games, Zohra Aghamirova will be the first gymnast from Baku to win a medal of the European Championship.

The Azerbaijani youth team also won two bronze medals. Govhar Ibrahimova, Sakinakhanim Ismayilzade, Madina Aslanova, Ilaha Bahadirova, Ayan Sadigova and Zahra Jafarova ranked the third on the podium in all-around (58.450 points) and five-ball exercise (29.000). This result is also a historical success for the national team, which for the first time managed to win medals at the continental championship in two programs at once. 

Hungarian gymnast Fanny Pigniczki was presented with a special award by SmartScoring Shooting Star at the European Championship. The Azerbaijani youth team received the Audience Award from the Championship Organising Committee, the Romanian gymnast Annalise Dragan received the Miss Press Award and the Ukrainian adult team was awarded the Team Spirit Award.

Joy of victory and preparation for Valencia

President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation Mehriban Aliyeva shared a status on her Instagram account on the occasion of the brilliant victory of Azerbaijani gymnasts at the 39th European Championships: "Hurray! Congratulations! I am proud of you! You are amazing! Thank you for your hard work, determination to win, beauty and grace!"

By the way, the team participating in group exercises as well as Zohra Aghamirova performed more difficult programmes this time. The coaching and choreography staff achieved the main goal by making the compositions more difficult. Despite the complexity of the performance, Azerbaijani gymnasts received high points from judges.

Siyana Vasileva, head coach of the Azerbaijan national rhythmic gymnastics team, admitted in her interview with R+ that the team's programme has been complicated to a certain extent: "The championship was a success for us. It is always difficult to compete in the home arena. We were nervous and we wanted to do our best. We're glad that we did it. We have the World Cup ahead of us. Our main objective is to successfully compete at the World Cup in Valencia in August, as it is a licence for the Paris Summer Olympic Games. I hope we will be able to win a licence. Although the European Championship was difficult, we are satisfied with our gymnasts.  It is possible that in the run-up to the World Cup there will be changes in the line-up."

Kamil Guliyev, the national team's chief choreographer, said that great importance has been attached to the team's artistry: "Our team received high points for the artistic performance. This year it was different from the last year's programme in terms of complexity. As a result, our team won the European Championship and a bronze medal in the all-around. I am sure that the girls will do even better at the World Cup."

Commenting on Aghamirova's success, her coach Yevgeniya Vilyayeva underlined the gymnast's determination: "I am very satisfied with Zohra, she performed perfectly. We have been working towards this for six years. I have to admit that I couldn't hold back tears when I saw the scores."

Zohra Aghamirova herself said that her task was to perform the programme flawlessly: "I was seriously preparing for the European Championship. I did my best. I am glad that I could win a medal. I would like to thank the President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation Mehriban Aliyeva for congratulations."

Zeynab Hummatova rated the gold medal at the European Championship as an extraordinary achievement: "We have always dreamt of winning the championship. We have worked for many years to achieve this goal. The gold medal shows how strong our country is in this sport. Mehriban-khanim has created ideal conditions for our gymnasts. And we competed for the maximum result. We cannot relax; we need to train hard to continue our successful performance."

At the closing ceremony of the European Championship, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation Altay Hasanov presented the flag of the continental championship to Vice-President of European Gymnastics Edin Kolar. This flag will be handed over to Hungary, which will host the next European championship.

The World Cup in Spain in August will be an important test for Azerbaijani gymnasts, as it is a licence for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games.