Sport, us and the Olympics: The Emerald City's gold – ANALYSIS

There are 84 days left until the beginning of the Paris-2024 Summer Olympic Games, which will be held on July 26.

Idman.biz continues the series of articles dedicated to the most prestigious multi-sport competition of the quadrennial, which will start on Friday after 12 weeks.

In the period until Paris-2024, we remember the summer Olympics in which Azerbaijani athletes participated in the years of independence. The Azerbaijani national team, whose debut was made in Atlanta in 1996, made his second attempt in Sydney.

Oh, Istanbul, Istanbul...

There was a possibility that Azerbaijan would participate in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games not far from the home, but in Turkiye. Istanbul is among the 5 candidates for the most prestigious multi-sport competition of the quadrennial. But "one nation, two states" did not have the chance to experience the Olympic joy in their native place. As in Atlanta-1996, this time too, during the selection of the host, one city was ahead for a long time, but in the end, another one was happy. Beijing, winner of four rounds of voting, fell behind Sydney at the crucial moment. As a result, the Green continent, which is considered the home of kangaroos, opened its arms to the XXVII Summer Olympic Games. Representatives of 199 countries competed in the competition, which lasted from September 15 to October 1.

31 athletes to ‘The Emerald City'

Azerbaijan left for L. Frank Baum's Emerald City of Oz to get gold. Our team was represented by 31 athletes more in Sydney-2000 than in Atlanta-1996. This time, there were 25 male athletes in the team. 6 representatives of the gentle breed were sent to Australia.

Sword not ‘Swording’

Azerbaijan competed in 8 sports on the Green Continent. Compared to four years ago, there was a slight decrease. Our fencers did not make it to the team going to Australia. Instead, the number of participants in boxing, judo, swimming and wrestling has increased. Wrestling has traditionally been the core of the nation. 6 out of 9 wrestlers went to Sydney as freestyle wrestlers and 3 as Greco-Roman wrestlers. Boxing 5, judo, weightlifting, athletics 4 each, shooting and swimming 2 each, diving 1 athlete won the right to be represented in Australia.

Leaders and Participants

Sydney-2000 did not differ much from the competitions in Atlanta and the Olympics that will be held in the following years. Traditionally, wrestlers acted as leaders of the national team. Our wrestlers have proven to be pioneers both in terms of numbers and success. In Australia, our national team, which is not represented in the team semis, fought with the principle of participation in some sports. Athletics, swimming and diving can be counted among such types.

Armed "Gold Hunter"

Although the first medal in the history of the Olympics was written at the expense of our wrestling team, the first gold was obtained in another type. On September 21, 2000, Zemfira Meftahatdinova signed this success. He excelled in stand shooting. "Gold Hunter" has written his name in history as our first champion ahead of everyone else.

Record from the Flag Bearer

Azerbaijan’s wrestling team also had an opportunity to stood out. The second gold came 9 days after the first victory. Namig Abdullayev, who performed as the flag bearer in Sydney, fought in 55 kg weight instead of 52 kg as 4 years ago. He increased not only his weight, but also the size of the medal. Our freestyle wrestler, who changed silver to gold in Atlanta, went down in history as the only representative of our country who experienced the joy of winning the Olympics, where he participated as a flag bearer.

"Double"

September 30 was the first day in the history of the Olympics when we won two medals. On the same day as Namig, Vugar Alakbarov won the Sydney prize. He became the first Azerbaijani to win an Olympic medal in boxing. Our heavyweight athlete won bronze in the "Green Continent".

Those who missed the medal and 34th place

Two gold and one bronze made the Azerbaijani national team 34th in the ranking of medals. Compared to four years ago, the role of the championships was big in the jump of 27 points. However, it was not impossible to take a higher place. Some of our athletes, who passed by the medal at the last moment, remained near the podium. Judoka Rasul Salimov, boxer Ruslan Khairov and our Greco-Roman wrestler Islam Duguchiyev almost did not win. They returned from the Olympics in top-6. Judokas Elchin Ismayilov and Zulfiyya Huseynova, wrestlers Natig Eyvazov and Shamil Efendiyev and weightlifter Elkhan Suleymanov also took part in the top-8. Apart from them, 5 more Olympians were content to stay in the top ten.

Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz