"The European Games were proof that Azerbaijan is a sports nation."
Idman.biz, citing Report, reports that this was stated by the Vice President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC), Chingiz Huseynzade, during a press statement following the meeting of the NOC Executive Committee.
He shared his thoughts on the discussions held during the meeting: "We have announced a competition titled 'Artificial Intelligence and Innovation in Sports.' Anyone from any country can participate. During the meeting, we approved the members of the jury. The jury will include representatives from the European Olympic Committees and the Turkish Olympic Committee, since the next Games will be held in Turkey. Additionally, the jury will feature a representative from the NOC of Azerbaijan, European Games ambassador Tunzala Aghayeva, and European wrestling champion Rasul Chunayev."
Huseynzade also spoke about the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF): "The EYOF will be held in July in Skopje. We will take part in this competition with a large team. Current issues related to our participation were discussed."
The NOC Vice President added that the committee has not yet received a concrete response from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organizing Committee regarding the damaged or defective medals awarded to Azerbaijani athletes.
He stated that they have taken all necessary steps regarding the replacement of the medals awarded at Paris 2024: "We have done all the required work related to the process and submitted all relevant information to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC forwarded the matter to the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, which is now mostly inactive, with only a few departments still functioning. These remaining departments are now handling the issue. So far, we haven't received a clear response, but we’ve been assured that the issue will be resolved."
Note: Of the seven Azerbaijani athletes who won medals at Paris 2024, five received medals that showed visible deterioration. Except for Olympic judo champion Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and freestyle wrestling bronze medalist Magomedkhan Magomedov (97 kg), all others received defective medals:
Olympic judo champion Zelym Kotsoiev (100 kg) – gold
Taekwondo athlete Gashim Magomedov (58 kg) – silver
Boxer Loren Alfonso Dominguez (92 kg) – silver
Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg) – bronze
Freestyle wrestler Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) – bronze
Idman.biz
