Baku, Azerbaijan, August 24
Trend:
To participate in the Olympic finals of the Rhythmic gymnastics is a big honor, and it requires a lot of strength and effort, Azerbaijani gymnast Marina Durunda told Trend
"After the first two exercises in qualification, the result wasn't so good, so I was performing like I had nothing to lose," Durunda said. "It was important for me to represent Azerbaijan worthily. Until the very end we believed that we could get to the finals and we did it."
She further said that the next goal for her is to prepare for the next Olympics that will take place in 2020 in Tokyo.
"We have a new Olympic cycle ahead of us, and we will train to make sure we can compete for medals in Tokyo," she said. "We'll consider all the rule changes and will build our performances in a way to get maximum scores."
Azerbaijan, represented by 56 athletes at the Rio Olympics, captured 18 medals (1 gold, 7 silver and 10 bronze). The country was among the top 15 countries at the Olympics, which hosted a total of record 206 countries.
Azerbaijani athletes represented the country in 18 sports disciplines.