Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 4
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Oleg Stepko won a gold medal in the all-around competition among men within the Open Joint Azerbaijan Championships in Gymnastics that kicked off in Baku March 4.
Speaking to Trend after his victory, Stepko said all necessary conditions have been created in Azerbaijan for the successful performance of gymnasts at the First European Games.
"The preparations for the championship began earlier," he said. "I complicated my first performance and in fact, it was a completely new performance."
He also noted that many well-known athletes have arrived in Azerbaijan to take part in the championship.
"Currently, a new generation is growing up in gymnastics and the competition is also increasing," said Stepko.
Gymnast he said will continue competing for medals in other forms of the competition as well.
"Awareness of the victory usually comes after the performance itself, when you see your points, because anything can happen," Stepko said.
"I know from my own experience that you can rejoice at third place, when after 15 minutes you find yourself in the fourth place because of someone's protest," he further said. "You should never give up, and even one fall doesn't determine anything in our sport."
The athlete also noted that the preparation for the First European Games has begun.
"The preparation for the First European Games has begun, and today's championship is the first step towards them," he said. "After this championship we are waiting for the European gymnastics championship, and after two weeks - the World Cup."
Stepko went on to add that this will be a rich period of competitions and beginnings, which are necessary to prepare and adequately perform at the First European Games.
"Moreover, for this, Azerbaijan has all the necessary conditions," said the gymnast.
The Open Joint Azerbaijan Championships in Gymnastics kicked off in Baku on March 4. This is the test championship on the eve of the First European Games.
Coming from 22 countries, 133 gymnasts will compete for medals both in the all-around and the individual competitions.
The European Games will be hosted in Baku on June 12-28, 2015.
There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports.
More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.
Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.
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