AZERBAIJAN ON TRACK TO SET A NEW RECORD

Every sportsman dreams about the Olympic Games.  Even after winning the world and European championships, the sportsman is driven by the dreams about the greatest sporting event of the quadrennium.  And in Azerbaijani sports too, the Olympic Games are very special events.  These sporting events, which are organized once in four years and glue all the Azerbaijanis to TV screens, make the nation forget about all other concerns and problems.  After all, only the best of the best go to the Olympic games.  That is why our sportsmen are trying to win more licenses every season.

The current season is very important in terms of winning licenses for the summer Olympic Games in London.  The race for licenses has begun in many sporting disciplines already.  Having won four licenses for the London Olympics in the last two months, Azerbaijan started to form its Olympic team.  Our first licenses are in field and track, boxing and taekwondo.

Our taekwondo fighters have the largest number of licenses so far.  Of the four licenses, two are theirs:  Farid Azizov (67 kg) and Ramin Azizov (80 kg) won the coveted pass to the greatest competition of their lifetime at the Olympic qualification tournament in Baku.  Two more taekwondo fighters might soon join them too.  Two more licenses will be available in January in Kazan.  But it has to be noted that our sportsmen can win two more licenses at most in Kazan.  The point is that the, according to the rules, every taekwondo team is given only four licenses (two to men and two to women).  So it is impossible to send more than four taekwondo fighters to the Olympic Games.

Azerbaijan won its first license for the London Olympics in field and track.  Azerbaijan's DmitriyMashin was third in hammer throwing at an international tournament in Minsk with the result of 74.04 meters.  His result qualifies him for the Olympic Games, so Mashin won the first 2012 Olympics license for our country.

But this is not the limit.  In other field and track disciplines we can win two more licenses because the world championship is still ahead.

Our fourth license was came as a bit of surprise.  Boxing team member Soltan Migitinov won the London license because his Ukrainian opponent Sergey Derevyanchenko decided not to compete in the Olympics.  For example, despite the fact that Migitinov lost the final match to the Ukrainian, his efforts were not in vain.  The Ukrainian Boxing Federation announced that, because the conflict with his personal coach, Sergey Derevyanchenko will not take part in the Olympic Games.  So, the license was automatically transferred to our boxer.  But this is only the beginning. Baku is to host the world championship in September, where more licenses will be available.  Our boxing team's goal for that tournament is quite ambitious:  The federation wants the team to win the maximum number of licenses, 10, in other words, to take part in the London Olympic Games in all the weight categories.  Migitinov has already won the license in the weight category of under 75 kg.  Therefore, nine more licenses are to be expected after the world championship in Baku.  In view of our team's potential, it is not a tall order for us to be represented in all the weight categories in London.

Our judo wrestlers can easily rival our boxers.  Olympic champion Elnur Mammadli (81 kg) and world and European championship prize winner Elxan Mammadov (90 kg) have secured their tickets to the Summer Olympic Games in London by accumulating enough rating points.  Three more judo wrestlers, Ilqar Muskiyev (60 kg), Tarlan Karimov (66 kg) and Kifayat Qasimova (57 kg), also qualify for the Olympics with the points they have scored thus far If Ramil Usubova (63 kg) and Elmar Qasimov (100 kg) will further their success, the number of licenses will increase to seven.  And that would be a record for our judo wrestlers.  They set their latest record during the Beijing Olympic Games:  Aqayar Axundzada's team was six-strong in the Chinese capital.

The number of our wrestlers is also to increase in London.  Victories at the world and European make optimistic forecasts possible.  As always, in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, our wrestler women aim for the maximum possible results.  We expect licenses in all the weight categories in these disciplines.

Our female wrestlers will also please us with three licenses.

So overall, our wrestlers are expected to form the largest group in our Olympic team.

The most difficult task is winning licenses in team sports.  The most realistic expectations would be only for our volleyball and grass hockey teams.  These teams have not taken part in Olympic Games thus far.  So, although our chances are good, it would be wrong to assume that success is certain.  Women's volleyball team is closer to their goal.  They are to compete in the European and world championships.  If they perform well there, they will be able to reserve tickets to London.  Our volleyball players are to win medals at the world championship to accomplish that.

Our gymnast women again have a good chance of winning the maximum number of licenses.  In this discipline, every nation can win only two licenses.  The potential of the Azerbaijani sportswomen makes it possible to achieve this objective.  In addition to two individual licenses, our group exercises team is also a candidate for London trip.  That is precisely why it can be said with certainty that our gymnast women will be present at the Olympics in full strength.

The number of licenses for the weightlifters will be determined during the world championship because the licenses in this discipline depend on the final rankings at the championship.  In recent years, there has been stagnation of sorts in this discipline, but we are all certain that we will see our weightlifters in London.  At best, we can hope to get five licenses at best.

Of course, we will have sportsmen in different disciplines in London - equine sports, swimming, shooting, fencing and others.  We simply focused on licenses in the disciplines where Azerbaijan has been traditionally strong.

Keeping in mind the intense activity in all sporting organizations, our Olympic team might break the record in the number of licenses.  Well, let us wait and see.  We have to wait for only one year…