Azerbaijani gymnast Oleg Stepko wins bronze medal at world gymnastics championship

Today at the finals of the world championship in gymnastics in Glasgow, Azerbaijani gymnast, champion of the First European Games in Baku Oleg Stepko won a bronze medal in the exercises on the parallel bars. 

The world champion in this exercise became Chinese athlete Yu Hao with 16.216 points, silver was won by Ukrainian gymnast Oleg Verniaiev with 16.066 points. Shudi Dan from China was on the third step of the podium together with Oleg Stepko, as both gymnasts received 15.966 points. 

Recall that parallel bars are the main gymnastic apparatus for Oleg Stepko, who won his gold at the European Games. During qualifying competitions, the Azerbaijani gymnast managed to beat five-time world champion Kohei Uchimura from Japan, leaving the famous athlete behind the final eight athletes.

Before the final, the head coach of Azerbaijan, Pavel Netreba, expressed confidence that Stepko would achieve a podium place, Azerisport reports. "His score was seven at the championships in Baku. This is one of the biggest bases, and the performance is quite good. Certainly, it is a sport, we can only try, but we have chances. It is doubly pleasing to participate in a competition when you know that there are good prospects," Netreba said.

This bronze has special significance, as it allows Oleg Stepko and the Azerbaijani gymnastics team to participate in the Olympic Games in 2016.