Moscow will host the European Championship for Artistic Gymnastics at 5.00 pm today. The competition started at 10.00 am for men. Women will compete tomorrow. Finals are planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.Larisa Latynina, an Olympic champion 9 times, Honorary USSR Sports Master (1956), Honorary USSR Coach (1972), said that she had good ties with Azerbaijan. She won the USSR Cup in Baku in 1955. Latynina said that she had many rivals, such as Tamara Manina, Polina Astakhova, Sonya Muratova.
Andrey Rodionenko, chief coach of the Russian national team of artistic gymnastics, praised Azerbaijan’s success in the sports. He said that he worked with Anatoly Yarmovsky. He also praised Armenian and Turkish athletes.
Vasily Titov, Vice President of the International Gymnastic Federation, expressed confidence that Azerbaijani gymnasts will achieve great results among 50 states taking part in the games. Titov pointed out Farid Gaibov, Secretary General of the Azerbaijani National Federation of Gymnastics and member of the International Federation of Gymnastics. He believes that Azerbaijan’s first lady Mehriban Aliyeva contributed a lot to achievements of the country in artistic gymnastics.
