WHO WILL BE THE "BOSS"?

The Beijing Olympics are now a thing of the past, and we look forward to the next Games in London in 2012. However, the results of this quadrennial sporting event will be discussed by specialists for a long time; they will assess the performances of coaches, as well as those of the athletes. Some of them fulfilled their mission, while others were rather unsuccessful. So, in which sports can we expect a reshuffle of coaches and in which did coaches live up to expectations?

Assessments in weightlifting

The question of reshuffles in the national weightlifting team of Azerbaijan has been the subject of much recent discussion. The team did not do very well, "missing" medals again, so it is time to draw some conclusions; the results of the coaches' work displeased not only the national federation, but also the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Specifically, Minister Azad Rahimov said, after his return from Beijing, that our weightlifters' achievements in the Games were unsatisfactory. Thus it is possible that the team will have a new coach next year, perhaps even earlier.

It is notable that coaches have been replaced in a number of sports in which Azerbaijan was not represented at the Beijing Games and in which we are actively trying to make our presence felt at the Olympics. For example, our fencing team is now headed by Tahir Akimov, who took over from Yasar Mammadov. In the past, our women's fencing team was among the world leaders, winning medals at various world and European championships. Yerena Jemayeva was a world class star who won every fencing title imaginable, except for the Olympic title. However, this glorious milestone is now history and the team has to develop new leaders to perform in London.

On the other hand, nothing has changed in a number of basic sports which steadily yield medals for Azerbaijan at major tournaments. For example, the departure of chief coach to the national judo team, Agayar Axundzada, would be totally nonsensical, especially after his Beijing triumph. The judo team performed better than any other at the Games in terms of quality. Elnur Mammadli (73 kg) won "gold" in brilliant fashion, while Movlud Miraliyev (100 kg) won a bronze medal. Axundzada had earned some confidence anyway, before going to Beijing, the team having performed successfully at world and European championships, returning home with medals each time. The only thing we had not achieved was an Olympic medal for the last three Games. However, this gap has also been filled. And now, after Nazim Huseynov, whose coach was Axundzada, we have a second Olympic judo champion.

Wrestlers "in business"

The coach of the Greco-Roman wrestling team, Elcin Cafarov, lived up to his reputation once again. His team has won medals at two Games in a row. Rovsan Bayramov (55 kg) and Vitaliy Rahimov (60 kg) won silver medals in Beijing, proving that the coaches are on the right track. In any case, in past Olympic tournaments Cafarov has not given anyone cause to question his professional fitness, as proved by the results of the last five years. His colleague Mahammadxan Aratsilov, who leads the "freestylers", is also secure. It must be noted that the team took a full complement to a Games for the first time. Although they won only one bronze medal, the Olympics demonstrated the potential of the team to achieve greater results - there is someone to emulate in freestyle wrestling. We only have to mention the Sydney Olympic champion, Namiq Abdullayev, who should be seen as an example for our wrestlers. The famous wrestler was regarded as a candidate for Beijing but, in the event, he made way for the younger Namiq Sevdimov (55 kg) who did not perform well at the Games.

Continuing the subject of wrestling, we should also mention the coach of the women's team, Nazim Alicanov, under whose leadership our girls achieved great success. Although our national team consists mainly of foreigners, we have to admit that they are quite competitive in the international arena, especially Maria Stadnik (48 kg) who has become European champion, won a European youth championship and taken an Olympic bronze medal in this year alone. And the season is not over yet; she will take part in the world championship in mid-October. In light of the Olympics, there will be no world championship for Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestlers. Since not all weight categories in women's wrestling are represented at the Olympics, a decision was taken to hold only a women's championship in Tokyo. So the contest may provide a good finale for Stadnik's season. Maria would also like to win the forthcoming world championship, which she will be trying to achieve with all her might, although it is not clear how successful she will be, considering her condition after her efforts at the Olympics and the dominance of Japanese sportswomen.

The coach of the national boxing team, Nariman Abdullayev, will probably also continue his career. In "off season" or, be more precise, in the heat of qualifying tournaments, he replaced Mammad Eyvazon in this post. This happened after the world championship in Chicago, where our team, against all expectations, won only one place in Beijing, through the efforts of Samir Mammadov (51 kg). Under Abdullayev's leadership, bronze medal winner Sahin Imranov (57 kg) won a place at the Olympics. On the whole, the team performed below its potential, especially if we remember that, four years ago in Athens, Azerbaijan was represented in the boxing programme in nine weight categories. So now the coach has the difficult task of creating a team from almost zero, which requires the strengthening of selection work. The coaches whose athletes won medals at the Games do not have to worry about their jobs, at least until the London Olympics.

Finish or carry on?

On the other hand, there is also the question of whether a number of experienced sportsmen, who have taken time off to take stock, will continue their careers. Many of them are still recovering after their efforts in China and are not thinking about big tournaments for the time being, which is understandable because they were exhausted by preparations for, and participation in, the Olympic Games. For example, the Beijing bronze medal winner, judoka Movlud Miraliyev (100 kg), has not restarted training yet, but intends to continue his career. Having won an Olympic medal at the age of 34, the athlete has no intention of quitting. The chief coach of the national team, Axundzada, says that Movlud can still perform at a high level, especially as a judoka's career can be a long one. Besides, Movlud has currently almost no rival in the domestic arena, so our judoka would like to win a place in the next Olympics. In any event, he is trying to do so. 

The Sydney Olympic champion in trap and skeet shooting, Zemfira Meftaheddinova, will probably also win a place at the next Games. On her return to Baku, she stressed that she would like to take a break, but does not intend to end her career. This is no surprise because the specific nature of this sport means that you can participate for a long time. The most important thing here is to be in the right form.

At the same time, Olympic bronze medal winner Sahin Imranov is also deciding his future. His prospects will depend on how quickly he recovers from an arm injury which was aggravated in Beijing. Imranov is at a crossroads for the time being. However, the picture will probably finally become clear next year. Olympic qualifiers will begin in two years' time, so athletes have plenty of time to take stock and think about whether they should continue or end their career.