Baku, Azerbaijan, May 4
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
The holding of the European Games in Baku will be beneficial for the development of sports in Azerbaijan, said Marina Durunda, the bronze medallist of the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships.
Durunda made the remarks speaking to Trend on May 4 immediately after her arrival in Baku from the tournament held in Minsk, where she came in third.
"I believe that thanks to the European Games, the sport will grow in Azerbaijan even more rapidly," said the athlete.
She also said the Azerbaijani sport already stands at a quite high level.
"In particular, the rhythmic gymnastics in Azerbaijan has advanced much over the last couple of years," said Durunda. "I am very proud that the first-ever European Games will be held in Baku, and for us this is a great responsibility."
She added that the European Games would be a very important start for the Azerbaijani gymnasts.
"We will intensively prepare for them," she told Trend. "We will train and try to improve our performances every day."
At the same time, as Durunda said, it is hard for the athletes to predict their own results at the European Games. She said a lot of strong gymnasts from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Israel and other countries will arrive in Baku for the European Games, and therefore there will be a great competition.
"Aside from that, gymnastics is a subjective sport, and the results do not always depend on gymnasts themselves," she said. "There are a lot of strong gymnasts, and all deserve the best. For us the most important thing is to perform well and to worthily represent our country."
The gymnast added that she hopes the European Games will attract many people from various countries and will have a positive impact on the development of tourism in Azerbaijan.
Durunda also said she is very happy with the results of her performance at the 31st European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, where she won a bronze medal.
Azerbaijan was represented at the 31st European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships held in Minsk on May 3 by two gymnasts performing individual programs: Marina Durunda and Ayshan Bayramova, as well as a junior team performing group exercises, which included Zuleykha Ismayilova, Simara Jafarova, Fatima Jafarova, Ilaha Mammadova and Darya Sorokina.
Edited by CN
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