HAPPY END

Olympic Games are an amazing event. The attention of most of us is riveted to this sports festival for 16 days. Olympic Games are a force that can unite us all for a while. But participation in Olympic Games has long stopped being limited to the slogan that "the main thing is not victory, but participation". Modern Olympics are a great competition in which every country tries to do its best and win as many medals as possible. London has been no exception.

Azerbaijan was represented in the capital of Great Britain by 53 athletes who competed in 16 competitions. Our team included some impressive names, among them the winner and medalists of the Beijing Olympics, champions and medalists of world and European championships. This team was rightfully expected to produce a good result.

The first week proved quite difficult for the Azerbaijani national team in terms of productivity. Some fans started to feel nervous about the outcome of the Games for our Olympians. But an analysis of the Olympic schedule showed that only the second week of the Games could be "ours". In the first week we could objectively count on medals only in weightlifting and judo. And the number of such medals, with quite a bit of luck, would have had to range between two and three. It would have been na?ve to expect medals in such events as shooting, rowing, swimming, artistic gymnastics. So the second week was supposed to be successful, because the competition was joined by Azerbaijani wrestlers, taekwondo fighters, boxers and canoeists.

In general, team Azerbaijan performed quite successfully at the London Games. In comparison with Beijing, we have made a step forward both in terms of the number and in terms of the quality of the medals won. Whereas four years ago our athletes won seven medals, including one gold, this time 10 medals have been won, including two gold. A solid catch, isn't it? Team Azerbaijan finished 37th in Beijing and 30th at the London Games. We must also remember that gold medals in London were won by representatives of 54 countries, while medals in general were won by athletes from 85 countries. So the struggle for gold in London was quite fierce.

But if we ignore the final result, we should note that there is still a somewhat bitter aftertaste from the performance of our athletes in some sports. We have tried to give an objective assessment of the team's performance in the sports in which we had medal hopes. Our assessment is based both on the number of medals won and the aesthetic performance of our athletes.

Wrestling

Our biggest hopes were associated with wrestling. It so happened that our wrestlers have made a significant contribution to the national team's medal catch. Azerbaijani wrestlers had won one gold medal in both Sydney and Athens Olympics. In Beijing four years ago, we were left without gold, but won four other medals. In London, the performance of Azerbaijani wrestlers proved truly fabulous and had a happy ending.

We begin with assessing the performances of Greco-Roman wrestlers. Five Azerbaijani athletes representing seven weight classes had qualified for the Olympic Games, but only Rovsan Bayramov and Hasan Aliyev were considered likely to succeed.

R. Bayramov confirmed his high status by cruising past all his opponents and reaching the final in the 55 kg weight class. By reaching the final, Rovsan repeated his own result of the Beijing Games. But his final bout didn't go too well as he lost to an Iranian wrestler. As a result, he had to be content with a silver medal. Rovsan has matched the result of Namiq Abdullayev who had won medals at two Olympics in a row. Apparently, Bayramov should go for a third try and try to win gold in the Olympic Games in Brazil.

The performance of Emin Ahmadov in the weight class of 74 kg proved a delightful surprise. Contrary to expectations, he was able to win bronze. Great expectations were associated with Hasan Aliyev, but he did not show the level of wrestling which had won him world and European championships. Ultimately, in the bronze medal bout he was defeated by a Russian opponent and was left without a medal.

In women's wrestling Azerbaijan was represented by two athletes - Maria Stadnik and Yulia Ratkevich. The biggest hope were linked to Stadnik who showed a good level of wrestling and reached the final where, alas, she lost to a Japanese opponent despite winning the first round with a score of 4-0. But her physical readiness proved weaker in the next two rounds. Yet, Stadnik changed the Beijing bronze for the London silver. If she takes one step forward at a time, Maria should win gold in the next Olympic Games in Rio.

A bronze medal was won by Yulia Ratkevich who lost to Japan's Saori Yoshida in hre second bout, but since the Japanese reached the final, Ratkevich won the right to fight for bronze and, by beating athletes from the United States and Russia, finished in third place.

And the icing on the cake was the performance of our freestyle wrestlers. On the first day of the competition Asraf Aliyev performed poorly by losing to Denis Tsargush from Russia in the quarterfinals. Although Tsargush was considered one of the favorites in the 74 kg weight class, Aliyev had a chance to win in the third period but could not use it.

But on the second of the competition day our freestyle wrestlers made up for the failure of the first day with vengeance. Togrul Asgarov in the weight class of 60 kg confidently advanced to the final and got the upper hand over the main favorite - Besik Kudukhov from Russia. Thus, T. Asgarov won Azerbaijan's first gold medal in London, adding to its title of European Champion the title of the 2012 Olympic champion.

The second gold medal was won by Sarif Sarifov in the weight class of 84 kg. Sarifov had won the world title in Istanbul last year. In London, Sarif demonstrated good wrestling against powerful opponents, reached the final where he proved better than a Puerto Rican opponent, without giving him any chance for a favorable outcome.

On the last day of the Olympics, medal hopes were linked with two other freestylers - Cabrayil Hasanov (66 kg) and Khetag Gazyumov (96 kg). Hasanov confidently completed the first two bouts, reached the semifinals but lost to a Japanese wrestler. In the bronze bout against a Cuban athlete, with 20 seconds left on the clock in the third period, Cabrayil earned a point, but when the bout resumed, the Cuban went on the offensive and floored our wrestler. In the end, the bronze medal sailed away to the island of Liberty.

As for Gazyumov, it seems that last year's injury has not been completely overcome. It was difficult for Khetag, especially physically, to wrestle. In the quarterfinals he lost to a Ukrainian wrestler but earned the right to fight for bronze. It later transpired that during the bout with Ukraine's Valeriy Andriytsev Khetag's blood pressure dropped and he was even taken to hospital. But when our wrestler learned that Andriytsev had reached the final, he returned to the hall and won the first bout for bronze against Tajikistan's Rustam Iskenderi. His next opponent from Iran dropped out of the competition due to an injury. As a result, Gazyumov repeated his own result of the Beijing Games by finishing in third place.

Weightlifting 

Some medal hopes were also pinned on weightlifters. But considering the weight categories in which Azerbaijani athletes were represented, only one medal could have been realistically expected. And it was won by Valentin Hristov. Taking into account the fact that he is only 19, Valentin has good prospects of changing this bronze for a higher-quality medal in four years' time.

We should also highlight the performances of Intiqam Zahirov and Boyanka Kostova. The latter was Azerbaijan's only representative in the women's weightlifting competition. Both showed a very good result and fought for a medal to the end. In Zahirov's weight category it was a very close fight which imparted great excitement to the Games in general and to the weightlifting competition in particular. Intiqam took the risk but lost. His 6th place is not bad at all, especially considering the fact that four weightlifters broke the Olympic record, while Kazakhstan's Ilya Ilyin set a new world record in the clean and jerk exercise.

Boxing 

Oh, boxing, boxing ... Boxers were also expected to perform well in the Olympics. It so happens that Azerbaijani boxers returned with medals, albeit always bronze, from the last three Olympic Games. This time, the expectations were higher because, as opposed to Beijing where Azerbaijan was represented by only two boxers, our team in London included eight boxers (including Yelena Vystropova who joined women's boxing competition in the 75 kg category). However, the performance of our boxers was not so successful despite the two bronze medals won. Five out of eight boxers were knocked out in the first round and another in the second. Only Teymur Mammadov and Magomedrasul Majidov reached the semifinals where both lost to rivals from Italy due to controversial referee decisions. But it is boxing ... It is not enough to be vice-champion and champion of the world here, you have to be head and shoulders above your rivals because refereeing in boxing is not a model of transparency and purity. Under the current boxing rules one should not just lead the fight but act as aggressively as possible and not give the judges the chance to take away your well-deserved victory.

Overall, Azerbaijan's boxing team is young and capable of completing another qualification cycle for the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. It is probably time to make some changes to the coaching staff as it has not met the task of preparing the team for London properly. The replacement of the head coach just a few months before the responsible competition did not justify itself either. So let's assume that our boxers have learned the lesson and acquired the necessary experience to prepare for the new Olympics more intelligently and responsibly.

Rhythmic gymnastics 

Azerbaijan was represented only by Aliya Qarayeva. The situation in the world of rhythmic gymnastics is such that the first two places on the podium are usually "booked" by Russian sportswomen. Yevgeniya Kanayeva and Dariya Dmitriyeva have finished first and second in London, while the remaining eight gymnasts, including Qarayeva, competed for the third place on the podium. Aliya was a bit out of luck and finished fourth, losing the third place to a Belarusian gymnast. It is a shame because the judges somewhat underestimated our gymnast in the final. For example, for the exercise with the ball, which Alia performed superbly in the final, the judges gave her a score of 27.850, while at the stage of qualification she had received 28.350. The difference is in half a point, while eventually Aliya finished 0.125 points clear from bronze.

Judo

Azerbaijani judokas were very successful in Beijing four years ago, winning two medals, including Azerbaijan's only gold medal in the China Games. Therefore, the expectations were quite high, especially since six judokas, including Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli, and two women judokas, went to the British capital this time. But the performance of the Azerbaijan judo team in London was very poor. In general, when analyzing the progress of our judo fighters in world championships in Rotterdam (2009), Tokyo (2010) and Paris (2011), we can see that they have never raised above third place. The most successful was the world championship in Tokyo, where Elxan Mammadov and Ramila Usubova won bronze medals. The other two world championships ended with only one bronze medal. Therefore, objectively, one could expect only one medal in London. But even that wasn't to be.

Speaking of personalities, it is the experienced wrestlers who have disappointed the most: Elnur Mammadli, Elxan Mammadov and Kifayat Qasimova. All three were a far cry from their real selves in London - Mammadli and Qasimova lost their first bout without a hint of a desire to do anything.

Rowing and canoeing 

There was little hope for medals in rowing. The mere getting into the finals for local rowers could be considered an excellent result, which is confirmed by sportsmen themselves and leaders of the federation. Aleksandr Aleksandrov finished 5th in the rowing event of 2,000 meters. Aleksandrov is only 22 years old, which is a very young age by the standards of rowing, and with proper approach he can progress to become one of the main contenders for victory four years later in Rio.

As for Natalya Mustafayeva, she reached the semifinals in the same event but was unable to qualify for the final. Therefore, the performance of rowers can be assessed as "good".

Now to canoeists ... This is where we have experienced one of the biggest disappointments. It is no secret that our sport executives were expecting medals, even gold, in this sport. And not without a reason. But this is Olympics, this is sport. Things don't always happen as expected. Some things may go better, other may go worse. Unfortunately, it was the latter in our case.

First, the duo of canoeists Sergey Bezugliy and Maksim Prokopenko suffered a fiasco in the 1,000 meters final. The Azerbaijani duo had confidently won the quarterfinal heat and qualified for the final directly. The first 800 meters of the final were perfect as our duo was in the lead. What happened then still remains a mystery. The last 200 meters were extremely difficult. In the end, they were overtaken not only by German but also by Belarusian and Russian canoeists. As a result, the Azerbaijani sportsmen finished in fourth place. This is a major disappointment because Sergey Bezugliy and Maksim Prokopenko were expected to win a medal.

Even worse was the performance of Valentin Demyanenko - Azerbaijan's main hope in canoeing. Multiple world and European champion was one of the favorites in the 200 meters race in London. But he unexpectedly finished in last place and missed out on semifinals. Later Valentin explained his poor performance by an injury received before the event. It is to be hoped that the defeats in London will make our canoeists stronger and urge them to prove that these losses were just a misunderstanding four years later in Rio.

In other sports, Azerbaijan was more of a participant than a contender for medals. This applies to swimming, shooting, gymnastics and athletics. With a bit of luck medals could be expected only from taekwondo. But when our fighter Ramin Azizov was drawn against double Olympic champion Steven Lopez of the United States in the very first round, almost all hope vanished. Although Ramin did the impossible by defeating Lopez, he lost the next fight to Italy's Mauri Sarmiento. But anyone who watched the fight can confirm that the victory was won not by the Italian but by the judges who were very unfair to the Azerbaijani sportsman. Another representative of Azerbaijan in the sport, Farida Azizova, lost in the first fight - also not without the help of the judges. It remains to believe that both Ramin Azizov and Farida Azizova can reverse this unpleasant trend in Rio four years later.

The results of the London Games have shown that Azerbaijani sportsmen have good prospects. We will look forward to the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and cheer our athletes at world and European championships.

See you in Rio!

WRESTLING 

The wrestling team included 13 athletes, of whom seven won medals. The catch includes two gold, two silver and three bronze medals - an excellent result

WEIGHTLIFTING 

Azerbaijan has won its first Olympic medal in weightlifting. National weightlifters fought for medals to the end, so their performance in London can be viewed as positive

BOXING 

On the one hand, Azerbaijani boxers have won two medals - the second best result after wrestling. But on the other, the quality of their fights will hardly satisfy the fans, the federation and the boxers proper. They were expected to do better, at least qualify for the final

RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS 

If Aliya Qarayeva had finished third, it would have a great success. But the judges slightly lowered her performance in the final

JUDO

Judo fighters did not win a single medal despite expectations. The quality of their fights was far from ideal. So 1 is the only grade our judokas deserve

ROWING AND CANOEING

As mentioned above, rowers did quite well, as opposed to canoeists. The average result for both events is satisfactory