Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
By Jani Babayeva – Trend:
A period of revival of gymnastics began in Azerbaijan with the election of Mehriban Aliyeva as President of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF), Nurlana Mammadzada, AGF Secretary General, told Trend.
"In 2002, Mehriban Aliyeva was elected President of the Gymnastics Federation, and the revival of all types of gymnastics in independent Azerbaijan began from that moment. We have the National Gymnastics Arena - a unique structure. After the opening of the arena in 2014, we entered a new stage of the development of types of gymnastics. Now we are developing all six competitive types that are recognized by the International Gymnastics Federation. Due to the right decisions and management policies, the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation has been at the global top 10 – for four years in a row – among those whose work is marked by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG),” she said.
Speaking about the preparation for the World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling, which will be held on February 16-17 in Baku, Mammadzada noted that the local organizing committee begins to prepare for such international competitions at least 4-5 months in advance.
"Everything is ready for the World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling, the delegations have arrived. I would like to note that we had delegations from eight countries at the trainings before the start of the competitions. The fact that many delegations come here before the competition shows that they are satisfied with the conditions created here and like everything. A coordination meeting was held this morning. Two representatives from each delegation were invited there - usually the head of the delegation and the coach. There was a presentation, where we provided more extensive information about the training sessions and all competition preceding events,” added the AGF Secretary General.
Nurlana Mammadzada stressed that in comparison with the number of countries participating in the World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling in 2017, this year their number is much higher.
“Representatives from 15 countries participated at the World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling in 2017, while this year representatives from 30 countries are expected to take part in the World Cup,” she said. “I would also like to note that in 2018, Baku hosted the European Championships in Trampoline, Double Mini-Trampoline and Tumbling.”
“Such a number of countries participating in the World Cup this year is because these competitions provide licenses as part of the qualification for Tokyo 2020,” she said. “In addition, this is also related to the fact that everyone knows at what high level competitions are held in Azerbaijan. Everyone also knows that there are all conditions in our National Gymnastics Arena, and that the local organizing committee has a lot of experience in holding international competitions. We know what conditions are required for the athletes arriving in our country, and we are trying to foresee everything, and therefore the number of participants of the competition is getting bigger every year.”
Mammadzada noted that the podium trainings of the gymnasts are underway in individual and synchronized programs in trampoline and tumbling.
“Because the competitions provide licenses as part of qualification for Tokyo 2020, all athletes feel great responsibility, and so do we as organizers,” she said.
The AGF Secretary General also noted that usually one technical delegate from the FIG arrives for the World Cups, but because these competitions provide licenses as part of qualification for Tokyo 2020, this time, one technical delegate and the highest judicial team, consisting of five people, have arrived.
She added that the World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling promises to be spectacular and interesting.
“The participants of the World Cup include Olympic stars, and it will be very interesting for the spectators to watch their performances,” Mammadzada said. “Some of them already visited Baku, but we didn’t have so many stars in one competition. This increases competition among participants and the interest in this tournament. As always, we will have flash mobs, and contests among the audience are also expected.”
The World Cup in Trampoline and Tumbling will be held February 16-17 in Baku.
Over 160 gymnasts from 30 countries will take part in the World Cup.
Such athletes as Uladzislau Hancharou, Rosannagh MacLennan, Jason Burnett, Dong Dong, Gao Lei, Dmitry Ushakov and Bryony Page will compete in this World Cup.
Veronika Zemlianaia, Ruslan Aghamirov, Ilya Grishunin, Oleg Piunov and Mikhail Malkin will represent Azerbaijan at the World Cup.
Six FIG World Cups in trampoline will be held in 2019 and 2020 and two of them will be held in Baku.
Baku hosted the European Trampoline Championships in 2018. Representatives from 26 countries participated in the championships. The World Cups in trampoline were organized in 2016 and 2017.