Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 16
By Jani Babayeva - Trend:
Gymnasts from Cyprus want to conquer everyone with their program at the 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, an athlete from Cyprus Viktoria Skittidi told Trend after performing at the qualification competitions of the 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships.
“Three gymnasts from Cyprus came to Baku for the world championships. I perform all four exercises, while the other girls present a program with two apparatuses,” she said. “We have been training together for three years, we support each other and we want to perform well to conquer everyone - the audience, the judge and the coaches. There is rivalry within the team, but still we support each other.”
Skittidi already competed in Baku, and she said that she came to the championships with the thought not to repeat the mistakes of past competitions.
“The National Gymnastics Arena in Baku is a paradise for gymnasts, and it has the best hall,” she added.
The 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships kicked off in the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku on Sept. 16.
Qualifications in an individual program are taking place on the first day of the competitions, and gymnasts are performing in the exercises with a hoop and a ball.
The 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships will last until Sept. 22.
After 14 years, Azerbaijan is hosting one of the most significant events, the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, again.
Both individual gymnasts and teams in group exercises will do their best to be among the strongest ones in the Apparatus Finals and All-around within seven days, while the gymnasts will also be awarded for team competition.
The Championships are the qualification competition for the Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo in 2020. So, the first 16 individual gymnasts (max. two gymnasts per country) in the all-around ranking will qualify for the Games.
As for the gymnasts within group exercises, Bulgaria, Russia and Italy have already qualified according to the results of the last World Championships. At this year’s Championships, the best five teams will qualify for the Tokyo-2020 Olympic Games according to the all-around scores.
More than 300 gymnasts from 61 countries will compete for nine sets of medals. “Fairy Tales will come to life" is the motto of the championships.
Nine gymnasts will represent Azerbaijan at the World Championship, which will be held at the National Gymnastics Arena. Zohra Agamirova, Veronika Hudis, Yelyzaveta Luzan and Maryam Safarova will perform in individual competitions. Ayshan Bayramova, Diana Ahmadbayli, Aliya Pashayeva, Zeynab Hummatova and Darya Sorokina will participate in group exercises as part of the Azerbaijani team.