OUR OLYMPIANS MOVE ON

After the World Cup in Brazil, the attention of the world sporting public will be focused in August on the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games which will take place in Nanjing (China). All the qualifying tournaments have finished and licences issued for this prestigious competition which opens on 16 August.

Mirkamil Rahimov, the head of the Azerbaijani delegation at the Olympics in Nanjing and head of a department of the Ministry of Youth and Sport, told R+ that Azerbaijan would be represented by 19 athletes in seven different sports at these games. The largest delegation will be the wrestlers - five athletes in freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's. In addition, four Taekwondo fighters, three boxers, three track-and-field athletes, two judoists and one representative each in rowing and swimming will be going to Nanjing.

Wrestling

Our wrestlers, who returned intact from the adult summer Olympics with medals, could again bring us cheer. The coaches believe that if Teymur Mammadov and Iqbal Hacizada perform to their potential, they will make it to the podium. Both athletes have won a number of tournaments and have been preparing these last two months for the Nanjing games with a special programme. There are also big hopes for Leyla Qurbanova. The Russian and Kazakh wrestlers are seen as the favourites in this weight category which means competition will be strong. It has to be said that Qurbanova's chances of a gold medal are relatively slim. However, on the whole she is capable of getting a medal in the biggest tournament of her career. As far as the Greco-Roman wrestlers Cabbar Nacafov and Islambek Dadov are concerned, they will win medals if they perform to their potential. If there are no problems before the tournament each of the wrestlers can expect a medal.

Rowing

Azerbaijan has only one representative in the rowing. Twice European champion Boris Yotov will be battling it out alone. He is quite an experienced rower who has taken part in two training sessions. The results he achieved at the world championship mark Yotov, with his speed and mobility, as one of the favourites for a gold.   

Judo

Azerbaijan will have two representatives in this sport. Both Natiq Qurbanli and Leyla Aliyeva did well in the European championships. Natiq's gold and Leyla's silver show that they are in good form. In short, our judoists are clear candidates to win medals, but which ones is hard to say.

Taekwondo

Said Quliyev, Gulhanim Yesildag, Ceren Ozbek and Safiye Polat will represent Azerbaijan in the Taekwondo. The best we can hope for is two medals. The girl Taekwondo fighters' chances are not rated very high.

Boxing

There are three boxers in the delegation going to China. Magomed Tairov is expected to encounter tough opposition in the heavyweight category. The domination of the Russian and Kazakh boxers will make his task difficult. But Rufat Huseynov and Macid Yusifzada are capable of getting at least a bronze. 

Swimming

Elvira Hasanova will be appearing for the first time at such an important competition in the free style. Just qualifying for the Olympics has been a great success, so one should not expect her to win any medals. If she can finish in the top ten that will be a great achievement.

Track and Field Athletics

The Azerbaijani athletes in track and field qualified for the Olympics at the European classification tournament in Baku. Nazim Babayev, who won his event (the triple jump) in the tournament will be challenging for a medal. Although winning gold does not look realistic, he is one of the contenders for a place on the rostrum. It is rather difficult to speak about any chances of a medal for Abrekha Benafeta (3000 metres) and Yelena Gladkova (pole vault).

At the first Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010 12 athletes represented Azerbaijan in six different sports (wrestling, boxing, weight-lifting, judo, Taekwondo and canoeing). They won five gold and three bronze medals. Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani weight-lifting team missed out this time. However, more Azerbaijani athletes will be taking part at the Youth Olympics in China and they may also improve on our medals total. So we can predict that Azerbaijani athletes could win 8-10 medals.

Azerbaijani athletes competing in the Youth Olympics 

Teymur Mammadov - free-style wrestling (63kg)

Iqbal Hacizada - free-style wrestling (100kg)

Leyla Qurbanova - Women's wrestling (52kg)

Cabbar Nacafov - Greco-Roman wrestling (50kg)

Islambek Dadov - Greco-Roman wrestling (69kg)

Boris Yotov - rowing

Natig Qurbanli -judo (55kgq

Leyla Aliyeva - judo (44kg)

Said Quliyev - Taekwondo (73kg)

Gulhanim Yesildag - Taekwondo (55kg)

Ceren Ozbek - Taekwondo (44kg)

Safiye Polat - Taekwondo (49kg)

Magomed Tairov - boxing (+91kg)

Rufat Huseynov - boxing (49kg)

Masud Yusifzada - boxing (52kg)

Elvira Hasanova - swimming, free style

Nazim Babayev - track-and-field, triple jump

Abrekha Benafeta - 3000 metres 

Yelena Gladkova - track-and-field, pole vault