Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17
By Jani Babayeva - Trend:
Today I performed well and did everything I had to, and I hope that I will have an even better result in the finals, Israeli gymnast Nicol Zelikman told Trend after performing at the qualification competitions of the 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships.
The gymnast emphasized that it is not difficult for her to participate in the qualifying competitions and the finals on the same day.
"Personally, it is not hard for me, because we work this way during our trainings. We specifically do 4 types in the morning and 4 in the evening, so that we are more comfortable at such competitions," the Israeli athlete stressed.
Zelikman also said that she is always glad to participate in competitions organized in Baku, as she feels comfortable here.
"I always like the organization of competitions in Baku, as I feel very comfortable here. Absolutely all conditions have been created for training and preparing for competitions in the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku," she added.
The 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships will last until Sept. 22.
The Championships are the qualification competition for the Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo in 2020. As such, 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 are competing for nine sets of medals. “Fairy Tales will come to life" is the motto of the championships.
Nine gymnasts are representing Azerbaijan at the World Championship, which is being held at the National Gymnastics Arena. Zohra Agamirova, Veronika Hudis, Yelyzaveta Luzan and Maryam Safarova perform in individual competitions. Ayshan Bayramova, Diana Ahmadbayli, Aliya Pashayeva, Zeynab Hummatova and Darya Sorokina participate in group exercises as part of the Azerbaijani team.