Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov stated at a meeting with media representatives that this year, Azerbaijani athletes won medals for the first time in many sports in which they had previously never reached the podium.
According to İdman.Biz, the minister noted as an example that for the first time at the III CIS Games, Azerbaijani swimmers won two gold medals.
Gayibov also stressed that the main objective remains the development of mass sport:
"Let me give you an example – the ice arena. It has been operating for its third year now, and especially on weekends, there are queues. It is very important for us that young people spend their free time doing sports. At the same time, there is also a professional side to the issue. We have figure skating and hockey sections there. The hockey players training there have already started taking part in competitions. We have results."
The minister also noted that about ten years ago, when he was still working at the Gymnastics Federation, the foundation for the development of trampoline gymnastics was laid in the country, and foreign specialists and athletes were invited. However, at that time, those athletes failed to secure Olympic licenses:
"But in 2024, our own homegrown athlete won an Olympic license and represented the country at the Games. I would like to emphasize that there are only 16 licenses in trampoline gymnastics, and qualifying for them is not easy at all. Now we want to achieve similar success in winter sports as well; however, as I have already said, popularization of sport plays a key role here."
