ETHIOPIANS TO HELP US

Track and field athletics in Azerbaijan are gradually rising to a new qualitative level. The latest successes are down to sprinter Ramil Quliyev, who has already won international recognition. Take, for example, his performance at the European indoor championships, where our representative made it into the final. The interest in this sport in Azerbaijan has been fuelled by news of the naturalization of sprinters from Ethiopia, who will compete under the Azerbaijani flag from now on.

Counting on the race

Until recently, success shied away from our team and our athletes were not able to show their worth in Europe. Quliyev turned out to be a track pioneer. He first won a silver medal at the world youth championships, reaching Olympic standard, and then he did well at the Olympic Games in Beijing, making his way into the quarterfinals. It seems that this is just the start, as Ramil has quite big plans. After the European championships in Turin, the sprinter will take part in two major contests - the European junior championships and the world championships. At the same time, Quliyev is still the only Azerbaijani athlete to qualify for the world championships. "Ramil's result at the European championships is a really historic one for our track and field athletics school during Azerbaijan's independence. We had quite good sprinters in the Soviet years, but recently, we have not been able to boast of any major success in the international arena. Ramil did a great job and we should consider not only his seventh place, but also his time, especially as 60 metres is not Quliyev's best distance - he specializes in the 200-metre sprint. So track and field athletics are developing slowly but gradually in our country," said the president of the national federation, Cingiz Huseynzada.

The answers to many questions will be given at the European youth championships - the contest is intended to demonstrate the results of the coaches' work in recent years. What is more, our representation will be quite significant, as it is planned to send six or seven participants to the contest. Five of our sportsmen have already qualified for the European championships, which we could not boast of before. "So, our hopes rest only on Quliyev, but also on the long jumpers and triple jumpers. That is to say, this year promises to be very successful for the Azerbaijani school of track and field athletics," thinks Huseynzada.

At the same time, the national federation intends to reinforce the team with long-distance runners from Ethiopia in the near future. Ethiopian athletes are a recognized force in long-distance running, something we lack. Thus the federation decided not to re-invent the wheel, but to use the services of foreigners and "recruit" them from one of the leading running countries. Soon Abelav Layes Tsige, Mare Dibaba, Gemega Gezaging Khunduma, Khagos Khayle Desta and Senbete Tilahum Vorku will have the chance to make their debut for their new country. For the time being, they are practising in Africa, where they are preparing for races in the mountains. It is possible that our team will resort to their help at the European team championships, earlier called the European Cup, in which participants will be split into divisions according to their ranking. "Our team will compete in Division B. In the team performances, we can count on quite high placings, however there is one 'but'. They combine the results of the men's and women's teams, and it is no secret to anyone that women's track and field athletics are not well developed here yet," Huseynzada admitted.

Strategic plan in action

In principle, there is nothing surprising about the recruitment of runners from Ethiopia, because many countries resort to the services of sportsmen from countries where one sport or another is especially developed. As an example, we can cite wrestling, in which the overwhelming majority of teams include athletes from the North Caucasus, as well as table tennis, in which the teams of many countries are replete with Chinese sportsmen, who set the pace in the sport. The arrival of foreigners is a measure for the long-term, because the growing generation will learn from the experience of their foreign colleagues. So the recruitment of runners from Africa should serve the development of track and field athletics in Azerbaijan, at least in terms of prospects in the long-distance events.

The arrival of the Ethiopians is especially important considering that, quite recently, our national team tried to win a place in the Olympic Games in the team event. In order to achieve the minimum target, what matters is not qualification, but the team's ranking, which depends on the most recent results.

But since the team is still unable to compete with the best, Azerbaijan will not be represented in the relay race at the Olympics. On the other hand, it is clear that it is our sprinters who are doing well in the international arena, while in the triple jump, long jump and high jump, our athletes are still in the shadows. A new plan for the development of track and field athletics for the next Olympic Games can help change the situation. Thanks to British help (the Olympics 2012 will be held in London) the plan is a strategic one and is designed for the long-term. It is of special importance now, since we already have a pleiad of sportsmen who have demonstrated their ability in the international arena. Apart from Quliyev, there is Ruslan Abbasov, who also competed at the Olympic Games in Beijing. It is no secret that, until recently, the participation of Azerbaijani athletes in the Games was a matter of appearance, subscribing to the Olympic motto "it is not the winning, it is the taking part". We cannot say that in the person of these two sprinters, we have sportsmen capable of challenging the favourites, but they are able to set themselves targets and fulfilling them. This is also proved by Ramil's participation in the Beijing Games, where he reached the quarterfinals - the first time for one of our athletes.

It is notable that Ramil is the son of a well-known Azerbaijani athlete, Eldar Quliyev, who competed in the 100-metre sprint and long jump under the supervision of prominent Soviet coach Afqan Safarov. Ramil started off in gymnastics but was injured in a training session, after which he had to give up his career in this sport. "Wasting no time, his father brought him to Tofiq Aliyev's group at the stadium. This was six years ago and since then he has been involved in track and field athletics. Ramil was first spotted by the national team in 2004, and we met him in person two years ago when he won the national youth championship. His times kept improving. During his Olympic youth days, he covered 100 metres in 10.74 seconds, and it seemed to us that this was a flash in the pan. But last year he covered 100 metres in 10.71 seconds at the international festival of the Russian community in Moscow. So, his preliminary results cannot have been one-offs. After that he won the 100 and 200-metre sprints at the Caucasus Cup in Sochi, after which I called Ramil our little star in an interview. But this little star began shining more and more brightly. For example, he won a 60-metre sprint (6.89 seconds) at an event in Moscow two seasons ago, which made us expect more to come. So, when Quliyev covered 200 metres in 20.67 seconds at the Azerbaijani championship, we realized that he could win an Olympic place," said the chief coach of the Azerbaijani national team, Maharram Sultanzada.

Quliyev and Abbasov have repeatedly stressed that their performances in Beijing were just a stage in their preparation for London. "Everything is in place. Ramil and Ruslan are young sportsmen. The former is 18 and the latter 22 years old. In general, sportsmen reach their peak at 24-25, which is why for Ramil this is a test check before London. I also think that Abbasov can work up to the 2016 Games. So both sportsmen are quite promising," Sultanzada said in conclusion.