Farid Gayibov praises country's achievements at Islamic Solidarity Games

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan's Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov has congratulated Azerbaijani sportsmen on good results at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games, Azernews reports.

"I congratulate everyone on the medals won. Every sportsman wants to get on the podium. We knew that the medal chances in some sports are not so high. Even if those athletes did not reach the finals, they fought very hard and I also convey my congratulations to them," Farid Gayibov told journalists in Konya.

Farid Gayibov pointed out that Azerbaijani sportsmen have come a long way to achieve today's results.

"Azerbaijani sportsmen are taking part in competitions in 22 sports at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games. We cannot say that we have always been strong in all sports throughout history and always won medals. Many sports federations have been reorganized. We regularly meet with the new management and discuss the strategy, " said Gayibov.

He stressed that currently Azerbaijan's Federations of Sports successfully cope with all tasks which leads to positive changes in every sports discipline.

The Minister stated that there is a very good atmosphere among the team members in Konya and said that the coaches and athletes meet every day and welcome the medal winners and celebrate their birthdays.

"I express my gratitude to each of them. I thank you journalists for covering the successes of athletes. Our sports volunteers have created such an atmosphere here that our athletes feel at home. We are happy with everything so far. We hope it will continue like this," said Farid Gayibov.

In total, the national team has already won 25 medals including 7 gold, 10 silver, and 8 bronze.

The gold medals were won by wrestlers Anna Skidan, Mariya Stadnik, Haji Aliyev, Turan Bayramov, Leyla Gurbanova and taekwondo fighter Farida Azizova.

Athlete Alexis Copello, gymnast Ivan Tikhonov and wrestlers Abubakr Abakarov, Alyona Kolesnik, and Islam Bazarganov won silver medals for Azerbaijan.

Taekwondo fighters Patimat Abakarova, Gasim Mahammadov, and wrestlers Aliabbas Rzazade, Hajimurad Omarov, Tetiana Omelchenko, and Asgar Mammadaliyev won bronze medals.

Thus, Azerbaijan ranks fifth among 56 participating countries. Turkiye, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan are in the top five.

A total of 281 athletes are representing Azerbaijan at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games to run until August 18.

In March, the Organizing Committee announced the final program of the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games, which consists of 22 disciplines from 19 sports including 4 para-sports.

The organizers choose to remove six sports: water polo, diving, field hockey, tennis, wushu, and zurkhaneh. At their place, they choose to add archery, boccia, fencing, and kickboxing.

At the paralympic events, para powerlifting and blind judo were replaced by para table tennis and para archery.

Along these events, archery included four extra events with the Traditional Turkish Archery discipline.

Notably, the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games took place in Baku in 2017. All 56 members of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation are participating in the Games.

Four disciplines from 21 sports were contested in the previous edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games.