"Being European champion for the second time is a proud feeling."
Idman.biz was told this by Vali Israfilov, a para-swimmer of the Azerbaijani national team.
The Paralympian, who won a gold medal in the 100m breaststroke at the Open European Championship in Madeira, Portugal, said that he had a great sense of responsibility before the competition: "I am really proud to have the title of European champion and wave our flag in Portugal for the second time. My toughest competitors were athletes from Ukraine and Belarus. I got ahead of them enough. I repeated the same success in the city where I won the championship for the first time. I hope to improve this result in the future."
Israfilov also announced his goals for the upcoming Paris-2024 Summer Paralympic Games: "I am already a two-time world and European champion. My goal is to become a two-time Paralympic champion. True, it will be difficult. My category has changed. Therefore, I will work hard for the gold medal again."
It should be noted that Israfilov won a gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Emin Aga
Idman.biz
