Baku, Azerbaijan, June 16
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
The First European Games in Baku will help karate's aspirations of getting into Olympic games, Simon Clegg, the Baku 2015 chief operating officer, said at the press-conference in Baku on June 16, answering Trend Agency's question.
He said that many sports aspire to be part of the Olympic movement for all of the benefits that come with that level of profile, and the level of support.
"I think the opportunity to raise the level of awareness of the sport in a sort of Olympic environment in front of so many members of international Olympic committee who were here will only help karate's aspirations of getting into the Olympic games," Clegg said.
He believes that the European games are a very positive experience not only for the athletes but also for the whole sport of karate.
"I am sure people will be taking bigger interest in karate going forward," he said.
Azerbaijan already has gold medals in the karate events held as part of the Baku 2015.
The karatekas, Firdovsi Farzaliyev (60 kg), Rafael Aghayev (75 kg) and Aykhan Mamayev (84 kg) brought gold medals to Azerbaijan in the kumite karate events at the Games.
The Azerbaijani women athlete, Irina Zaretska (68 kg) also won a gold medal in the women's kumite karate.
The European Games that kicked off in Baku June 12, will last till June 28.
There is 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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