THE HONOUR TO CARRY THE BANNER

Less than three months is left until the opening of the 30th Summer Olympics in London. What could concern a participating country on the eve of this important sporting event other than winning the maximum number of licenses and preparing athletes for the Games? It turns out that there is something to be concerned about. Some organizational issues that seem minor at first glance may subsequently affect the results of the Olympic team. For example, who will be carrying the country's flag at the opening ceremony of the Olympics? The sports history of independent Azerbaijan has seen several flag-bearers that provide food for thought.

As an independent state, Azerbaijan has been taking part in the Olympics since 1992, and since that time, the exclusive right to carry the country's flag has belonged only to athletes who have achieved the best results. The first Azerbaijani flag-bearer in 1992 in Barcelona was Nazism Huseynov, who also became an Olympic champion. So, four years later in Atlanta, Huseynov also carried the country's flag. Azerbaijan's only medal in 1996 was won by the freestyle wrestler Namiq Abdullayev, who earned the right to carry the flag in the 2000 Olympics in Australia. In Sydney, Abdullayev retained the title of Olympic champion, but did not carry the Azerbaijani flag in 2004. The freestyle wrestling competition started a few days after the opening of the Olympics, so Namiq in Athens was replaced by the weightlifter Nizami Pasayev. He did not win medals at the time. In Beijing in 2008, the mission to carry the flag of Azerbaijan was assigned to Farid Mansurov - a classic wrestler. The greatest success in China was achieved by judoka Elnur Mammadov, who, perhaps, will be the flag-bearer of Azerbaijani Olympians in London this year.

Meanwhile, Olympic champion Farid Mansurov made an interesting proposal in this regard. The wrestler who is about to complete his career suggested that the mission to carry the flag should be assigned not to a member of the Olympic team, but to one of the veterans of the national Olympic movement. "I think it would be better if the flag was carried by an Olympic champion who has completed his athletic career. In 2008 in Beijing, I was the flag-bearer. The opening ceremony lasted several hours, and I got a cold. On the same evening, I had a fever. And this had a direct influence on my bad performance in Beijing," Farid Mansurov said.

In his first match, Farid lost to an athlete from Ukraine as he had not had time to regain form.

Farid's proposal is also supported by the head coach of the Azerbaijani judo team, Agayar Axundzada. He believes that the Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli does not have to carry the country's flag at the opening of the Olympic Games in London. "The flag-bearer can be an athlete or a coach. The opening of the London Olympics is scheduled for 27 July. Elnur also joins the struggle on 31 July. Prior to that, it is necessary to make a number of preparations. But either way, the decision is up to the National Olympic Committee," the head coach said.

Nazim Huseynov, who carried the flag of Azerbaijan at the opening of the Olympics twice (1992 and 1996), has a different opinion. It was Elnur Mammadli who was supposed to be the flag-bearer this year, Huseynov says, adding that it is wrong to link sportsmen's failures to trust to carry the flag. "In 1992, we went to Barcelona as athletes from the CIS. I carried the flag of

Azerbaijan and became an Olympic champion on my birthday. In 1996, the mission was also entrusted to me. My failure in Atlanta was due to poor training. We did not often go to various competitions at the time, and training sessions took place in regions of the country. So I was unable to perform successfully. All depends on the athlete and there is no need to link failures to the bearing of the flag," Huseynov said.

Elnur Mammadli himself, who is to carry the flag of Azerbaijan this year, is ready to comply with any decision of the National Olympic Committee. In his opinion, if the flag-bearer once fell ill and ended the Olympics badly, it does not mean that the same fate awaits all the others. "Farid Mansurov is right. In Beijing, he caught a bad cold and had a fever of about 40. I personally gave him medicines. But that does not mean that I will definitely fall ill this year, too. Carrying the flag of Azerbaijan is a great honour, and if they regard it as appropriate, I would be proud to fulfill this mission. And if not, I'll be happy for any athlete who will be given this task," Elnur said.

To find out who will be carrying the Azerbaijani flag in London, we turned to the head of the International Relations Department at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ilham Madatov. He noted that it has not been decided yet who will be carrying the banner. However, according to Madatov, there are no certain rules, and this mission can be assigned to any person chosen by the National Olympic Committee.