"I'm eager to win. However, I have never been scared of an opponent."
Nazim Babayev, the European champion in athletics, and the leader of the Azerbaijani national team, who was a guest of Idman.biz studio, said this.
The 26-year-old high jump assessed his rivals on a global scale. Being the first person in a race is his primary objective, according to him: "If you are afraid of someone, you are considered lost before the race. My motivation has always come defeating the opponent. Greek athlete Miltiadis Tentoglu, the long jump Olympic and world champion, is my biggest opponent. Despite being a year my junior, he is someone who will inspire and lead by example. On the previous occasion, we attended the Greek national team's training camp. There I realized that I am not behind him in any aspect. In certain things he is better than me, in others I am better than him. But he succeeded by combining all the characteristics."
Babayev, who is the European champion in the triple jump, also talked about his transition to the high jump. According to him, numerous injuries made him take this step: "It was comfortable for me to jump with the triple pole." I went to the Tokyo Olympics 10 days after returning from injury and finished 13th. After that year, for a period of 2 years - until 2023, I suffered countless injuries to my back and ankles. It cooled me down from the triple jump. The last point was the winter European championship held in Istanbul. I took the 5th place there. Actually, not a bad result. But I thought I could do better as Nazim. My health did not allow me to do it. In this race, I could not feel my legs because of the pain in my back. As a result, I decided to switch to long jump."
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
