Azerbaijani wrestlers: the best of the best

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

The Azerbaijani national wrestling team grabbed nearly all of the medals at the 1st Baku European Games.

The country was represented by 24 wrestlers at the Games. 12 of them went on to claim the medals, once again affirming Azerbaijan’s domination in the sport of wrestling.

Wrestlers Rasul Chunayev 71kg, Elvin Mursaliyev 75 kg, Togrul Asgarov 65 kg, Khetag Gazyumov 100 kg, Stadnyk Mariya 48kg, and Anzhela Dorogan 53 kg won gold.

Huseynov Rafig 80 kg and Sabahi Shariati 130kg became silver medalists, while Aliyev Hasan 66 kg, Elman Mukhtarov 59kg, Jabrayil Hasanov 74kg and Natalya Sinishin 55kg collected bronze medals at the Games.

The Land of Fire was proud of its courageous athletes. With its ancient Turkic roots, Azerbaijan’s success in the sport of wrestling is not coincidental.

Although freestyle wrestling is claimed to be somewhat of an American sport due to its origins in the United States, and Greco-Roman wrestling is know to have originated in Greece, one can easily observe Azerbaijan’s contributions to the sport through its folk literature and epics. Wrestling is also depicted in 6,000 year-old cave paintings in the ancient settlement of Gobustan, just north of Baku.

For centuries, wrestling tournaments in special “Zorhana” athletic halls were the favorite pastime of youth in the territory that comprises modern-day Azerbaijan.

The most recognized heroes of wrestling in Azerbaijan include Huseyngulu Mursaloglu, Meshedi Abdul Ali, Shomu Abdulla, Mirza Hashim and Sar Panji, all of whom lived from 1789 to 1871.

Recent memory invokes the names of Azerbaijan’s “giant” wrestlers, Sali Suleyman and Rashid Yusifov, who achieved glory worldwide in the beginning of the 20th century. The two demonstrated their unparalleled skills at wrestling competitions in the world's largest cities like Washington, Paris, Chicago, London, and Rome.

Suleyman was considered to be the most formidable rival to many of the world’s most talented wrestlers and remained undefeated both in his motherland and abroad. He grew to be recognized for his brute strength often seen tearing iron chains and bending knots into iron rods.

Rza Bakhshaliyev, a 20-time Azerbaijani national wrestling champion, helped establish the Kusturud sports club and is recognized as being one the founders of the sport in Azerbaijan.

Arif Niftullayev was the first Azerbaijani to claim the title of the first world champion at the 1978 World Cup in Mexico. Yet another national wrestler, Mahaddin Allahverdiyev was a three-time World Champion in 1985, 1986, and 1987, as well as and a European Champion in 1984.

Based on the ancient and historic roots of wrestling in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani wrestling school has become well established throughout the country.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.