Azebaijani National Olympic Commitee speaks out about the upcoming Olympics in Singapore

Azerbaijani squad for the Singapore Games is already defined. What preparatory work is being carried out at this stage?

Well, the athletes train according to their programme, bring their conditions up to the level. Also, dont forget, that many licensed tournaments were held immediately before the Games, and not over a year, as supposed to be in case with the adult Olympics. It means, that the athletes are ready to compete, and now just need to keep their shape up. All we have to do, is successfully perform in Singapore.

How do you see the upcoming feature start?

These games are different. The organizers intend to pay more attention to cultural and educational programs for more than fifty categories to choose from. The main thing - to bring together young people from different countries,and to reach the global values through sport. Therefore, the composition of participants is limited, in some disciplines, such as in judo, maximum quota is equal to only two athletes. Therefore, in this regard, we have difficulties, namely, problems with the coaching staff.

Initially, the organizers did not want to allow coaches to the Games. They said that the children would alone and live as one big family. But after we and the Olympic committees of other countries disagreed on the issue, organizers singled out for coaches in every sport at one place regardless of the number of athletes appearing in any discipline.
 
So it means, that there will be a lack of coaches and mentors in Singapore?

Exactly. Not to mention the fact that this could lead to confusion, because say, freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's wrestling is allocated to only one mentor. And if we assume that several of our athletes at the same time will perform at the Games, the coach will be torn apart between three carpets. We would be happy to send coaches to Singapore, paying from our own pocket, but the organizers of the Games will not allow them to competitions, the Olympic village and the hall. This apparently is a new wave, a new trend. We try to solve these issues.

Given the nature of the upcoming Olympics, can we talk about the medals?

Naturally,this is Olympics afterall. We look forward to rewards for the successful performance of our athletes in Singapore. After all, we must remember that the license for games were played at the world championships, which means that winners of these competitions will automatically become candidates for a medal. We hope to win a certain number of medals, because almost half of our team are champions and winners of the world championships.
 
During the Olympics numerous doping tests will be carried out...

The fact is that virtually all the guys underwent doping tests at the world championships, given the status of the awardees. Everything is normal, so I think that we won't be having any problems with this issue at the Olympics.
 
Has the timetable for sending Azerbaijani team to Singapore been established already?

The scale of the Olympics is small and thus the timing is more precise. August 14 is the day of the opening ceremony, while the arrival of the Olympic Village begins on August 10th. At the moment, we adjusted the flight, which is more convenient to fly. But in any case, between 10 and 14 August, our team will already be in Singapore.


/Azerisport/