TODAY.AZ / Arts & Entertainment

AWF marks birthday of Olympic champion

08 January 2021 [12:17] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Laman Ismayilova 
 
Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation (AWF) has organized a meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of the Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling Namig Abdullayev.
 
In their remarks, Vice President of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation (AWF) Namig Aliyev and the coaches of national freestyle Greco-Roman wrestling teams highlighted Namig Abdullayev`s achievements in wrestling.

Namig Abdullayev is a retired Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler, who won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics, as well as three gold medals at European championships and three silver medals at world championships.

A three-time Olympian, Abdullayev won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in the 52 kg category and the gold in the 55 kg weight class at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, but was eliminated early. The wrestler retired in 2009.

Namig Abdullayev spoke about the challenges he has faced over the past 50 years. The Olympic champion stressed that  after the drastic changes in the AWF since 2007, the Federation has achieved major success in the Olympics, European and World championships.

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

The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive Games.

In 2020, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers finished third in the overall medal table of the Individual World Cup in Serbia.

National wrestlers won two medals, including silver and bronze. Russia topped the medal table followed by Turkey.

The national team also won five medals at Grand Prix Moscow held in Russia.

National wrestlers Shamil Zubairov (97 kg) left no chances to all his rivals, Islam Bazarganov (57 kg) and Davud Ibrahimov (65 kg) won silver medals. Gitinomahammad Hajiyev (74 kg) and Osman Nurmahammadov (86 kg) finished third in the Grand Prix.  Thus, the national  team won 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in the tournament.

Moreover, Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation (AWF) held a webinar for international and national judges.

The virtual meeting covered decisions to be made in freestyle wrestling, attack and counter-attack in Greco-Roman wrestling and other disciplines. 

The judges also discussed some wresting techniques and tricks used at last tournaments.







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