Сompetitions of the 23rd Baku Championship in Rhythmic Gymnastics as well as the 2nd Azerbaijan Championship in Aerobics have ended in Baku's National Gymnastics Arena. Athletes in "kids" age category (2006-2008) participated in two-day event. Medals in aerobics were on the line on the second day of the event. Gymnasts in age categories "kids" (7-8), "children" (9-11), "pre-juniors" (12-14), "juniors" (15-17) and "adults" (18 years and older) competed in the individual program as well as in trios program.
141 athletes participated in the competitions. They represent Baku Gymnastics School, clubs "Ojag Sport", "Gemryukchyu", "Syarhyadchi," Sports Society of the Internal Affairs Ministry, the Republican Sports School and the Olympic Sports Complex "Shagan".
Head referee of the tournament in rhythmic gymnastics Evgenia Zhidkova said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza that athletes are getting better and better every year and that new generations of athletes are ready: "There was a great competition among pre-juniors, who will become juniors next month. Arzu Jalilova and Narmina Samedova, for example. It was a fire on the carpet. And we hope that they will show the same at the European Championship. Overall, the competitions are going very well. A lot of people came. This is the last tournament in rhythmic gymnastics and aerobics this year. Last artistic gymnastics tournament will be held in two weeks. These tournaments are a huge test for young people, they help young athletes to get into the national team, since it is the dream of many athletes."
Commenting on the results of competitions, head coach of Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnastics team Mariana Vasileva said that well-trained gymnast that were born in 2004-2005 participated in this competition: "This is our future, they have a great base. They are young, but perform like grown-ups. Audience loves their performance. I also liked several girls that were born in 2006-2008, but they are too young, so I can't say what kind of future can we expect. Almost all of them are becoming juniors next year and have a chance to get into the national team."
Assessing the competitions themselves, Vasileva said: "Every tournament we hold is held at a higher level than the previous one. People have endless possibilities. Now we host competition in rhythmic gymnastics and aerobics at the same time. Aerobics is a very young gymnastic discipline for us."
Indeed, Baku tournaments attract the attention by the fact that the organization at the local level is flawless. Sometimes it is not always possible to see such competitions at regional tournaments. Azerbaijan, which previously was a leading country in such sports as wrestling, judo, boxing and other forms of martial arts, managed to become the country where rhythmic gymnastics is as popular as traditional sports, and did it in a very short time.
Though no one in Azerbaijan is surprised by this popularity. Under the leadership of first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, who heads the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, the country develops all six disciplines of this sport. The recognition of Azerbaijan's achievements in gymnastics is also evidenced by the fact that secretary general of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, Farid Gaibov, is also vice-president of the European Gymnastics Union.
Azerbaijan is becoming more and more like gymnasts factory with elite schools, modern infrastructure, and in a few years Azerbaijan will take a leading position in this sport. It's enough to say that one of the best gymnastics arenas in Europe, which is located in Baku, is a place where national teams of Poland, Singapore and Australia are training.
Thanks to a great infrastructure Baku is often visited by gymnasts from different countries, who learn the experience of Azerbaijani athletes and coaches of the national team, headed by Bulgarian specialist Mariana Vasileva. Leadership of the federation, which thought out every detail of the organization of tournaments even at regional level, is also doing a great job. Baku tournament, for example, is also remembered for unprecedented spectacle. During the tournament there were flash mobs and contests. Photos, posted by active users on Facebook, were displayed on a large screen in the main hall. This way organizers gave the audience and participants of the tournament not only interesting competitions, but also exciting entertaining moments.
Azerbaijani Aerobics Championship attracted special attention. This is a new discipline in this sport, which federation decided to develop within the framework of a large-scale promotion of gymnastics across the country. Experts are optimistic about the future of aerobics. "It's a new sport for Azerbaijan, but young people are already interested in it. Current tournament showed us new talented children, which is great. Aerobics has a bright future in Azerbaijan," head referee of aerobics tournament Alfia Mantova said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.
