Azerbaijani gymnastics had a very productive and fruitful year in 2015, as the country took home a total of 157 medals during that year.
Rhythmic gymnastics appeared to be the most successful sport, obtaining a total of 81 medals. Men’s artistic gymnastics comes second with 32 medals followed by acrobatic gymnastics who took home a total of 15 medals. Meanwhile, women’s artistic gymnastics scored 11 medals, and finally, trampoline gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics achieved a total of 9 medals each.
18-year-old Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast Marina Durunda has become the most fruitful athlete in the country in 2015, ending the year with a total of 22 medals. Just one medal was in the account of her compatriot Zhala Piriyeva and a gymnast Oleg Stepko, who was the champion of the First European Games.
Without any doubt, the very first European Games, the Baku 2015 European Games, was the most meaningful competition of 2015.
Oleg Stepko was the first ever Azerbaijani gymnast to score five medals in a historical sport festival such as this. One of the medals he won was a gold medal on the parallel bars. Additionally, he won another medal in a team competition along with Eldar Safarov and Petro Pakhnyuk.
Azerbaijani’s Ilya Grishunin took home the bronze medal in the trampoline gymnastics event, while Marina Durunda achieved the silver medal with her ribbon performance in Rhythmic Gymnastics.
Overall, it seems like ribbon became Marina’s most valuable 'asset' in 2015. She earned bronze in a ribbon exercise under the “Fantasy” musical composition by a well-known composer Uzeyir Hajibeyli at the European Championships.
For the first time, the Azerbaijan acrobatic gymnasts successfully captured medals at the European Age Group Competitions. The men’s pair of Seymur Jafarov and Murad Akbarov grabbed the silver medal, while the mixed pair comprised of Aghasif Rahimov and Nurjan Jabbarli took home the bronze.
The year 2015 was made memorable by the debut of the national gymnasts on the world arena. Therefore, Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation brought its plan to completion regarding the development of gymnastics disciplines, and now, all seven gymnastics disciplines recognized by the FIG are being promoted in the country.
Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev presented a flat to a two-time Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships prize-winner, Gulzum Shafizada.
The Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation was recognized as the best federation and the National Gymnastics Arena, an iconic 9,000-seater facility designed to hold all seven gymnastics disciplines, was recognized as the best Arena by the Azerbaijan Youth and Sports Ministry.
Furthermore, the 6th General Assembly of the Azerbaijani Federation was held in Baku in December, where Azerbaijan’s First Lady, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva was re-elected as its president.
Altay Hasanov will now take in charge as the Vice-president, while Rauf Aliyev and Rafig Beybutov will maintain their positions as Executive Committee members. Mariana Vasileva was appointed as the new member of the Committee.
Currently, the Azerbaijan gymnasts are getting ready for 2016, which appears to be a tough year ahead. The athletes will compete in various international events such as the European and World Championships, and most significantly, Durunda and Stepko will fight for an Olympic medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
The Rhythmic Gymnastics athletes and Artistic gymnastics participants will still have a chance to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics as Baku will host three World Cup series including Artistic Gymnastics in February, Trampoline Gymnastics in March, and Rhythmic Gymnastics in July.
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