Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestler Elmir Aliyev (51kg) won the gold medal in the final of the XV Summer European Youth Olympic Festival - EYOF Baku 2019, the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza reported.
In the final he defeated Ukraine's Sanya Yakovlev (4:0).
Elmir Aliyev defeated his Norwegian opponent (4:0) in the first round and then defeated a Romanian wrestler (3:1), having then defeated a representative of Georgia during the semifinals (5:0).
Speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, Elmir Aliyev said that he practised a lot before the EYOF in Baku. "We had very serious training camp. Our goal was a gold medal," he said.
"I am grateful to the entire leadership, in particular, to the vice-president of the Azerbaijani Wrestling Federation, Elchin Jafarov," Elmir Aliyev said.
"The most intense battle I've had here was with the Romanian wrestler, but the home ground gives a lot of strength. There's a very encouraging atmosphere in our team, because everyone is focused only on victory," the athlete noted.
The XV Summer European Youth Olympic Festival is being held in Baku on July 21-27. The festival will be attended by more than 3,900 athletes from 48 European countries. Athletes will compete in ten kinds of sports - gymnastics, athletics, basketball, cycling, handball, judo, swimming, tennis, volleyball and wrestling. In total, athletes will compete for 135 sets of medals.
