A VICTORY DEDICATED TO AZERBAIJAN

Those who say that rhythmic gymnastics in Azerbaijan does not have a glorious tradition are just not right. We can declare openly, for all sceptics to hear, that from now on we do not just have glorious traditions, but also outstanding achievements. This is how we should respond to Azerbaijani gymnast Aliya Qarayeva's bronze medal in team performances and her gold medal in exercises with the skipping rope, despite the overall dominance of the Russian school of gymnastics. It is even more symbolic that our sportsmen gained these achievements at home, i.e. at the Heydar Aliyev sports and concert complex in Baku.

When Azerbaijani gymnasts won a bronze in the team classification at the European championship, having left the Belarusians behind, everyone thought that Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnastics reached its peak, for it seemed impossible to beat the gymnasts from Ukraine and, especially, from Russia. However, individual competitions in the European championship showed that nothing is impossible. Our national team demonstrated its aspiration to take winning positions, and their main rivals in this struggle were the gymnasts from Belarus. In any case, even in the team classification, our gymnasts could have achieved more, if they had contained their excitement.

Serious claim

After the exercises with skipping rope, our team took third place (33.575), ahead of the Belarusian gymnasts by almost one point (32.700). Although the Ukrainians were very close, they gained 33.950 points. However, the Azerbaijani gymnasts had a slightly worse result with clubs and hoops (32.725 with hoops and 32.625 with clubs), whereas the Belarusians took third place, having gained 33.550 and 32.750 points respectively. The gymnasts' performance with ribbon was decisive. Our gymnasts performed these exercises superbly, gaining 34.500 points. The Belarusians performed these exercises much less successfully (32.700), and Svetlana Rudalova's negative score was notable. Thus, in total the Azerbaijani gymnasts gained 133.425 points and outpaced the Belarusians (131.700) in the struggle for bronze. As expected, the Russian gymnasts took first place in team performance. They gained 142.450 points. The Ukrainians took the silver (137.925).

Medals for youth groups were decided by individual performances on the last day of the tournament. The fourth place that our youth team took is an unquestioned success, considering that they only took 12th place at last year's European championship. What's more, we have to point out that our group made their way into the final stage in eighth place (only eight teams can get into the final). But then our gymnasts performed almost perfectly and rose to fourth place, having gained 24.500 points. They were only 0.475 points short of taking the bronze that was won by the Belarusian gymnasts.

The championship's sensation

After that, it was Aliya Qarayeva's turn to surprise us. She performed the programme with skipping rope very well and, with 18.150 points, created the main sensation of the European championship, winning gold for the first time in the history of Azerbaijani gymnastics. We have to point out that Aliya Qarayeva started the final stage in fourth place. Her closest rival in the final stage, Vera Sessina from Russia, did not do her exercises with skipping rope very well and won silver with 18.050 points. Olga Kapranova took third place with 17.750 points. Incidentally, another Azerbaijani gymnast, Anna Qurbanova, also made it to the final, but she took seventh place (16.500). 

"I cannot find words to describe how happy I am. To be honest, I have not quite realized yet that I am a European champion. I think it will take me some time to realize this," Aliya Qarayeva told R+ after her triumphant performance. "On the first day of the competition, I was very excited and that's why it was much more difficult for me to perform. On the second day I felt more confident, which probably helped me win the gold. Behind my victory was, of course, firstly the fact that we worked very hard. But to be honest, I did not actually hope to take first place. For me gymnastics is my life, it is everything to me. First of all, I dedicate this victory to all my loved ones and coaches who helped me gain this victory, as well as to all of Azerbaijan. I hope that we will achieve the same success at the forthcoming licensed world championship in Greece, where we will try to win the right to go to the Olympic Games. In any case, I think that we have already got to the top of rhythmic gymnastics and cannot fall back."

In the exercises with hoops, Azerbaijani gymnasts Anna Qurbanova and Aliya Qarayeva could not make the final, taking 10th and 12th places and gaining 16.600 and 16.125 points respectively. The victory here went to Olga Kapranova from Russia (18.325). In the exercises with clubs and ribbons, Ali Qarayeva could have made Azerbaijani gymnastics fans happy with a medal, but fell short by a few points - in both programmes, our compatriot took fourth place. In the event with clubs, Aliya got into the final from eighth place and gained more points in the final (17.750), and was just 0.100 points behind Anna Bessonova. Incidentally, Russians Vera Sessina and Olga Kapranova gained the same number of points (18.000 each), but Sessina won according to additional indicators. In the exercises with clubs, Anna Qurbanova also made her way into the final and took eighth place with 16.750 points. Performing with ribbon, Aliya Qarayeva (17.675) lost out by only a few points to Vera Sessina (17.825) and again took fourth place. Dinara Qimatova also participated in the final with ribbon (16.975), but she took seventh place. In this programme, Yevgeniya Kanayeva, who replaced Alina Kabayeva at the last moment, became European champion.

At the European championships in Baku, Aliya Qarayeva was also noticed by the well-known specialist and chief coach of the Russian team, Irina Viner. "I am very proud that Aliya Qarayeva won the first gold medal in the history of Azerbaijan at a European championship. When the flag of a Muslim country with a star and crescent is raised in our female sport, this is very symbolic," Viner said.

An opinion from aside

Foreign gymnasts were not indifferent to the success of the Azerbaijani gymnast either. For example, one of the most experienced participants in the European championship in Baku, Almudena Cid, congratulated her gymnastic colleague. "I am very glad to be in Baku again. I like it very much here. I want to return to Baku again. At the same time, I would like to congratulate Aliya Qarayeva on her success. She deserved this victory," Almudena Cid told R+.

The well-known Ukrainian gymnast, Anna Bessonova, also regarded Aliya Qarayeva's gold medal as having been deserved. "I know Aliya very well; we have performed in contests together. She worked single-mindedly to get this gold, and I think that she deserved it," Anna Bessonova told R+. As for my own performance, I did not make any major mistakes. I don't think that second place is my limit. Human possibilities are endless. On the whole, I think I did very well. In general, I perform not only for referees, but also for viewers. I want to communicate to viewers the plot of my performance. For me it is very important, because viewers are the same as referees.

In turn, the chief coach of the Azerbaijani team, Valentina Ukleina, summarized the results of the Baku championship. "Of course, these results are very good for us. On the whole, I think that the most important thing for us is consistency," Valentina Ukleina told R+. In principle, until the last performance of Aliya Qarayev and Svetlana Rudalova from Belarus in the team performances, we were not sure that we would be able to take third place. The sureness of Qarayeva's ribbon exercises and Rudalova's insecurity tilted the balance in our favour. As for individual performances, Aliya Qarayeva has always been strong with the skipping rope; she has all the attributes necessary to perform this exercise at a high level because it consists mainly of jumping exercises. For this reason, she deserved to take first place."

"In general, we thought of a medal, of course, but we did not think that it would be gold," Valentina Ukleina said. "In the exercises with clubs and ribbons, she was short of first place by a few points because, unlike the first day, she worked very consistently. On the first day, she was very excited because the design of the hall created an indescribable effect. For example, the amphitheatre resembles ancient Greece. All this was done very intelligently, which is a big plus for the president of the Gymnastics Federation, Mehriban Aliyeva, who has wonderful taste."