As many as three medals won by the Azerbaijani gymnasts at the Baku World Cup in Trampoline Gymnastics and Tumbling, which came to an end yesterday, became an indicator of the work, made during the last year by the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, the coaching staff and the athletes, the Vice-President of the European Union of Gymnastics, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, Farid Gaibov, told Vestnik Kavkaza.
According to him, the main purpose of the World Cup in Trampoline Gymnastics and Tumbling was to popularize these sports. "We have began developing trampoline gymnastics and tumbling not so long ago, and of course we were happy with this medal. I recall that at the last World Cup in Trampoline Gymnastics in Baku we did not win any medals, which means that we have made good progress during the year," Farid Gaibov stressed.
In particular, Mikhail Malkin's silver medal in tumbling is the first Azerbaijani international tournament medal in this discipline. "Malkin's performance in the final of last year's European Championship was our first major success - our sportsman was among the top eight gymnasts in Europe. Of course, we held these events, hoping that he will win a medal - and he made it. We also hope that next year Malkin will perform well at the European championship," the Vice-President of the European Union of Gymnastics said.
Speaking of trampoline gymnastics, he recalled that Azerbaijan's last medal in the sport was Ilya Grishunin's bronze at the First European Games in Baku. "This time the first medal in trampoline gymnastics was won in women’s synchronized performances. Veronica Zemlyanaya participated in the international competition for the first time, our gymnasts had serious competitors and Svetlana Makshtarova didn't get into the final. But they proved that they are able to fight for medals - took the second place," Farid Gaibov noted.
Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation especially stressed Ilya Grishunin's silver medal. "It was an Olympic medal, because there were only men's and women's individual trampoline at the Olympics, only two sets of medals. Therefore, this Olympic medal is so important and significant for us, because it shows that we have good prospects for future," he explained.
"We discussed the results of the tournament with coaches and athletes, and we expect that our gymnasts will continue training hard. there are all the conditions for this purpose. The World Cup's medals is a great achievement for the sports, which we are developing for only the fourth year, and I hope that we will compete for medals at the European Championships and be able to qualify for the Olympic Games, where only 16 people will participate in trampoline gymnastics," Farid Gaibov concluded.
