Baku, where history of European sport begins, says Gymnastics Federation VP

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Test trainings for gymnasts were held at the National Gymnastics Arena on May 18-19 in anticipation of the first Baku European Games 2015 - to be held in the county this summer.

Altay Hasanov, the vice-president of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, who attended the event, said Azerbaijan expects a celebration of gymnastics during the First European Games.

Hasanov reminded all that the Gymnastics competitions at the European Games will be held on June 14-21. As many as 28 gymnasts will represent Azerbaijan at the European Games.

"The European Games will, for the first time, be held in Baku, here is where the history of the European sport will begin," Hasanov said. "We very much want to succeed at the European Games and everyone expects this to be a success - the fans and the federation. We've gathered here to see the level of preparation of our athletes."

Hasanov further noted that the preparatory level of the gymnasts is satisfactory.

"If there are no injuries, the judges do their job fairly, and the gymnasts do fine, we will win medals," he said. "We believe in that."

Speaking about the conditions created in this regard, he mentioned the grand National Gymnastics Arena, the tremendous fan-club and fan support.

He invited everyone, including the capital's visiting guests, to the National Gymnastics Arena to watch the competitions during the Games.

Hasanov added that the tickets for the European Games are indeed inexpensive. "There are no such prices for tickets even in Europe. Great conditions have been created here. Let's all take part in this great holiday, and support our athletes."

Stressing that the development of gymnastics in Azerbaijan began 10 years ago, Hasanov said : “Rhythmic gymnastics is the most developed aspect of the sport and the success of our athletes is related mostly to that particular discipline.”

He further added that the decision to hold the first European Games in Baku triggered the development of other gymnastic disciplines, including aerobics, women's artistic gymnastics and trampoline.

"In the future, we expect success at competitions in these types of sports as well," he added.

He said the team has the right mindset.

"The gymnasts are getting ready," he said. "There are mistakes, but we hope that at the European Games there won't be any. We believe that our work will result in winning medals at the Games."

"The president of the Gymnastics Federation, Mehriban Aliyeva, the entire staff of the federation, athletes and coaches have put a lot of efforts into this and as a final result there should be many medals," Hasanov said.

The women's artistic gymnastics, aerobics and trampoline gymnastics took place on the first day of trainings. Performances of rhythmic gymnasts, acrobats and artistic gymnasts’ sports took place on the second day.

Gymnasts presented performances that they have prepared for the European Games.

Qualifying round of women's and men's artistic gymnastics will be held on June 14-15, the winners of the competition in team classification will be defined.

Qualifying competitions in acrobatics, aerobics, trampoline gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics will be held on June 17.

The final-round of the women's and men's artistic gymnastics is going to be held on June 18.

The final in the individual program rhythmic gymnastics, as well as all-around between women's and mixed groups of acrobatics are scheduled for June 19.

The qualifying round of the synchronous movements of trampoline gymnastics and the qualifying round in between the groups in aerobic gymnastics will be held in parallel on the same day.

The final of the women's and men's artistic gymnastics on the various gymnastics apparatus is expected to be held on June 20.

Finals on acrobatics, aerobics, trampoline gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics will take place on the main day of the competition.

Baku 2015 is the first-ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent, which will host a total of 20 sports: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports.

More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will represent their nations over 17 days of competition.