FULL READINESS

Less than two weeks are left till the opening of the 2012 Olympics in London. It must be noted that the Summer Olympic Games, which will start on 27 July, will be significant for a number of moments for Azerbaijan. First, the country will be represented in such sports as rowing, women's boxing and cycle racing for the first time. Second, compared with Beijing, there will be more of our taekwondo wrestlers in London. But at the same time, the wrestling team will be incomplete this time. Due to the referees' biased attitude, Mahmud Mammadov, who played in the 55kg category, failed to win a place. There are also losses among the Greco-Roman wrestlers. For example, the Beijing Olympic finalist Vitaliy Rahimov, who lost at the last moment, will not go to London.

At these Olympics Games, we have nine more places than in the previous ones - 53. Thus, our athletes have overcome the intended barrier of 50 places.

It is difficult to predict how many medals will be won by Azerbaijani sportsmen. In an interview with R+, Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov said that at these Olympics, we will win more medals than in Beijing: "I do not like making predictions in connection with the Olympics, because sometimes even the favourite can lose. At the same time, a greater number of athletes increases the chances of winning medals. In Atlanta, we won one, in Sydney - three, in Athens - five, and in Beijing - seven medals. In London, this figure may be more than 10. With this indicator, our country will be among the top 15 in Europe and the top 20 in the world."

Having won seven medals (one gold, two silver and four bronze medals) at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Azerbaijan ranked 39th among more than 200 countries.