NEW RECORD FOR JUNIORS

The first Youth Summer Olympic Games, held in Singapore, were memorable for the successful performances by Azerbaijani athletes. Even the most optimistic coach or fan could not have predicted such a great performance by our team. This was backed up by the five gold medals won by our juniors. Of the 12 Azerbaijani athletes who participated in this prestigious competition, 8 were among the medals.

Once again it was the wrestlers who brought the greatest joy to our fans. The four gold medals and one silver medal they won demonstrated again the power of the Azerbaijani wrestling school. Having beaten all competition, Murad Bazarov (42 kg), Elman Muxtarov (52 kg), Ali Magomedabirov (100 kg) and Patimat Bagometova (52 kg) stood on top of the podium. Kanan Quliyev (54 kg) won a silver medal, losing only in the final battle. The successful performance of our junior wrestlers proves the popularity of the sport among young people. The striking success of our juniors convinces us that in the future, our Greco-Roman wrestling team and women's wrestling team will be in safe hands.

Nicat Rahimov, who achieved a major success in the weightlifting competition, can be considered the discovery of the Singapore Olympic Games. The pupil of the famous Nizami Pasayev surprised everyone in the best sense of the word. Outstripping all his rivals, he won a gold medal in the 69 kg weight category, becoming the first Olympic champion in the history of Azerbaijani weightlifting. It is interesting that our country had not previously won Olympic medals in this sport. After developing himself further, Nicat Rahimov may soon take part in an adults' competition, thus continuing the path of his mentor - world and European champion Nizami Pasayev.

Despite the fact that Azerbaijan's young boxers won two silver medals, the Boxing Federation has the right to be dissatisfied with this result. Of course, the fact that two of the three athletes were among the medals is encouraging. However, the coaching corps' focus on gold medals indicates possible dissatisfaction with medals of lower grade. After losing in the finals, Salman Alizada (48 kg) and Elvin Isayev (57 kg) missed out on "gold". The failure of our team's standard-bearer, Saban Sahpalangov (51 kg), in the first match came as a real shock. Although high expectations were pinned on the world junior championship gold medallist, Saban failed to live up to them.

The canoeist Radoslav Kuchev was very close to a medal. But, unfortunately, our athlete was unable to progress further than the quarterfinals. However, at least he performed more successfully than the Tae Kwon Do wrestler Sabuhi Ismayilzada (73 kg) and the judoka Calil Calilov (66 kg), who left their competitions early.

Thus, at the Singapore Youth Olympic Games, the Azerbaijani team achieved all its goals. After winning eight gold medals, they came 11th in team performances, thus leaving behind such leading sports countries as the USA, Germany and Britain. For comparison, let's say that our team was behind only two teams from the former Soviet Union - Russia and Ukraine. By the way, the Armenian team was unable to win a single gold medal at the Olympics and came 68th (1 silver and 3 bronze medals). Our team was 6th of the European teams, behind Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Hungary and France.

The efficient activity of the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Youth and Tourism and local federations is accelerating the development of sports in our country. The eight gold medals won in Singapore, only two years before the Summer Olympics in London, came as a great gift to our people. Now it is the team's turn to have their say. We expect new, outstanding achievements from them.