Azerbaijani gymnast Marina Durunda, who took the first places in the qualification exercises with a hoop and a ball of the rhythmic gymnastics competitions at the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, said, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, that she likes to be the last to perform at competitions.
"I like to be the last to perform - then I have time to dive into the atmosphere of the competition. Of course, professionally there is no difference, but it is just fantastic to be the last to perform," Marina Durunda stressed.
According to the gymnast, she was overwhelmed with emotions today. "It's up to the audience whether I managed to convey the mood of my routine, but I think that I can put more soul into it. I usually perform very emotionally, but today I tried to limit my impulse," she noted, adding that the first performance at the Islamic Solidarity Games was exciting.
"I am sure that tomorrow I can perform even better and show what we have prepared for the Islamic Games. And for the first time, when I performed after the injury, I think I managed to achieve a good result. That is, I still do not have enough confidence that I can perform my routine every time from start to finish, but it is just because that there was a break in performances," Marina Durunda said.
The gymnast also supported her friends in the national team of Azerbaijan. "I'm proud of Zohra Aghamirova, she's only 15 years old, she never competed at competitions of such a scale, but today she performed with dignity. Of course, I'm very worried about Zohra and Zhala Piriyeva. It's good that they coped with the first exercises. I really hope that we will win the team medal, because they deserve the best," she concluded.
The 4th Islamic Solidarity Games started May 8 and will last until May 22 in Baku on 16 sports grounds in 20 sports – 17 Olympic ones and three non-Olympic ones.
