"GOLD" FOR "IRON MEN"

The victory of Azerbaijani bodybuilder Vuqar Verdiyev at the European championship in Spain will be discussed by specialists for some time. The contest was truly a momentous event for our national team because they proved their quality and determination to win. This was so important ahead of autumn's world championship in Bahrain.

Intermediate stage

The president of the Federation of Bodybuilding of Azerbaijan (FBBA), Rauf Bunyadaliyev, observed that he regards their success in Spain to be as important as last year's results, when our team took second place at Euro 2007. "Because this was our first European championship away from home, after the contest in Baku, at which we had to prove our class, our standards and our consistency. It is always difficult to do this on someone else's territory because, while you can count on impartiality at home, it is more difficult to achieve this in contests on foreign soil. But we did not think about our final ranking, we simply built up a good shape. Vuqar Verdiyev and I even considered Euro 2008 to be a kind of intermediate stage in preparing for the world championship in Bahrain. I set more specific tasks to Farhad Quliyev and Hamid Kesani, but as perfectionists and passionate sportsmen, Vuqar and I reached the highest level, to give us our gold medal," stressed Bunyadaliyev.

To be honest, our guys, especially Farhad and Vuqar, found it very difficult to make the weight. They made it literally one hour before the weigh-in. In the process, Verdiyev surprised his rivals with his good shape, although it was far from the one he demonstrated on stage. After the competition, Vuqar's main rival - an athlete from Sweden - approached our bodybuilder and congratulated him on his top form. When the contest started, Farhad Quliyev made quite a strong impression on the referees during the classical bodybuilding programme. In fact, none of the referees knew who this sportsman was, or where he came from, because the referees received the score sheets a little late. So everyone judged from a blank page - Farhad was called for comparative posing with all the leaders. He was in possibly the hardest division, because 19 sportsmen had entered this category. "With such a great number of sportsmen, an athlete may 'get lost' on the stage and the referees may fail to assess him properly. But Farhad did well and took one of the leading places - he was third after the first day of the contest. In my scoring I had him in first place, because no-one in his weight category demonstrated such muscle density, depth, symmetry and posture. When he was given fifth place in the final, no-one took it seriously, although I had some comments about Farhad's optional programme. It is the strongest discipline for a bodybuilder, but he did not really do well. Perhaps this affected the referees' decision. But fifth place was still a success for Farhad, because it was his first contest away from home. Of course, he justifiably hoped for better, but Quliyev is only at the beginning of a long road," observed Bunyadaliyev.

Meanwhile, the 90 kg category, in which Verdiyev and Kesani participated, was quite even. Vuqar was among the five leaders in comparative posing from the outset, but then he was not called to participate again. "This situation could be viewed in two ways: either Vuqar was 'deliberately' ignored, or the referees realized from the very outset who was the favourite. But after seeing the scores, I could not understand at all what the referees were using as criteria; after the first day of the contest they had Verdiyev in second place, one point behind the Swede. There is a question here for the referees: if there was such a close contest, why wasn't Vuqar called to the comparative posing? If we follow the referees' logic, with such a disposition of forces, either Vuqar Verdiyev should have been in first place after the first day of the contest or he should not have made it into the final at all. It was not all easy going and there was a certain group of referees who did not want Vuqar to take first place at all. But I always told our guys that they had to win in such a way that no-one could have a shadow of doubt. In the final, Verdiyev secured a convincing victory and gave his rivals no chance," the FBBA president said.

The first serious victory

As for Kesani, he took fifth place, although he was fourth after the first day of the contest. This was quite a good debut, considering that he is not known yet to a wide circle of specialists. "On the whole, taking account of Viqar's gold, I am very pleased with the performance of our team in Spain. If Vuqar had taken second place, this would have been a tragedy for me. It was very pleasing that I had the honour to present awards to the winners of the 85 and 90 kg categories, together with the president of the international and European federations, Rafael Santoja, who told me later that we deserved this victory. I personally gave Vuqar the European Cup and then, Azerbaijan's national anthem was played in distant Spain. This victory is doubly pleasant for me because, in fact, this is the first real victory of a representative of the Azerbaijani bodybuilding school. Let's call a spade a spade - Tahir Fakhrutdinov had earlier gained several victories for us at world and European championships, but these victories were gained, let's say, under contract. Yes, we created all the right conditions for Tahir to prepare and helped him from an organizational point of view, but Vuqar's medal cannot be compared to Fakhrutdinov's awards, because this is the product and result of our own bodybuilding school," Bunyadaliyev continued.

We can honestly say that everyone saw the beauty of Vuqar's strength when he fought for victory in the overall category, in which he came second. First prize was won by a sportsman from Spain, but it was clear to everyone that only two bodybuilders were fighting for victory - the host and Vuqar.

Meanwhile, the EBFF congress, which was held before the finals, repeatedly noted the excellent organization of Euro 2007 in Baku and our initiative to host the world championship in 2010. So everything is just getting underway and, after Vuqar's victory at the European championship, it is time to gear up for success in the world championship in both individual and team performances. "We have serious goals. We know how to train and raise champions and how to win. If fate does not deal us any unpleasant surprises by 2010, our national team will perform in the world championship, at home, with credit," Bunyadaliyev said in conclusion.

Sharing his impressions of the contest, Vuqar observed that, compared with the previous year, he had gained more muscle mass, which is why the decision was made to perform in the 90 kg category. "This was quite justifiable and I made a favourable impression on the referees. Although everything was unclear at the very beginning - on the first day I was summoned for posing only once, after which they marked me number two on the score sheet. However, in the final on the next day, I proved that I was the strongest athlete in this category and I won the gold medal," the bodybuilder said.

He stressed that when a sportsman performs in the international arena over a long period, he gains experience, confidence and a belief that he will definitely win. "After I took second place at last year's European championship at home, I promised myself that I would definitely win this contest. I dreamt of standing on the podium, singing Azerbaijan's national anthem and seeing our flag being hoisted. I was successful. And second, I manage to improve my fitness from year to year. This is proved by my first place at Euro 2008," said Vuqar.

His next target is to perform successfully at the world championship in Bahrain. "Of course, there is no point in making predictions in sport, but I hope that everything will be alright, especially as there are short-term and long-term goals - I mean the world championship of 2010 which will be held in Baku. We have a very strong team with experienced athletes who have performed in the international arena for many years. And this lets us hope that, in the world championship of 2010, we will be able to compete for victory in team performances," Verdiyev concluded.