Podium training of athletes involved in FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup underway

By Trend

The podium training of athletes who will participate in the upcoming FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup - AGF Trophy 2020, is being held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku on March 11, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation.

The FIG Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus World Cup - AGF Trophy 2020 - will be held at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku on March 12-15. This World Cup will also qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

According to the list of applications, 158 athletes from 42 countries will take part in the World Cup.

“The training was held well,” athlete from the UK Hayden Skinner said.

Skinner hopes to show a good result in the competitions.

"The National Gymnastics Arena in Baku is big and beautiful,” gymnast from the UK said. “Perfect conditions have been created for training. This is my first visit to Baku. I like everything, especially people - they are pleasant and courteous. During the World Cup my task is to demonstrate good results, show my program without faults."

Gymnast from Kazakhstan Nariman Kurbanov has visited Baku three times.

"We are in Baku for a week,” Kurbanov said. “We arrived earlier for the training camps. This helps a lot psychologically. The preparation for the competitions is excellent. Perfect conditions have been created. The competitions in Baku are always organized at a high level.”

“During the World Cup, I will perform the pommel horse exercises,” the gymnast added. “During my previous visits to Baku, I ranked seventh in the World Cup in 2018 and fourth in 2019. I hope to be in the top three this year.”

Gymnast from Guatemala Jorge Vega Lopez has stressed that there is great competition among the participants in the World Cup.

"The competition is great, but I hope to show a good result, take a worthy place in the standings and compete for the medal,” Lopez said. “The World Cup has been organized at a high level. I am very glad to be among the participants. I hope that I will come to Baku to participate in further competitions."

There will be qualifications on the first two days of four-day competitions, while the finals will take place on the next two days.

In the tournament, the traditional “AGF Trophy” will be presented to the gymnasts who get the highest execution score.

During the competition, Azerbaijan will be represented by Murad Agarzayev, Marina Nekrasova, Agamurad Gahramanov, Ivan Tikhonov, Samira Gahramanova and Javidan Babayev.

Trend present photos from the training to readers.