Sport, us and the Olympics: On the road to hegemony, tradition and development – ANALYSIS

There are 35 days left before the start 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 5 weeks.

After recalling the summer Olympics in which Azerbaijani athletes participated in the years of independence, and after reviewing the collection of awards, the Azerbaijani representatives will pay attention to the participation in multi-sport events until Paris-2024.

Participation in 25 sports
Azerbaijani athletes competed in 25 sports in the previous seven Olympics. Among them, there are three types of wrestling, two types of gymnastics, canoeing, shooting and cycling. The record in this indicator belongs to Rio-2016. Our representative performed in 19 sports in Brazil. This figure was equal to 17 in London-2012 and Tokyo-2020. The lowest indicator is Sydney-2000, where we participated in 10 types.

Hegemony in wrestling
Our wrestlers, who won the most medals in the Olympics, have a great advantage in the number of participants. In five out of seven multi-sport events, the number of our wrestlers was greater than in other sports. Only Athens-2004 and Tokyo-2020 are exceptions. Our freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling teams participated in all the Games. Our women's national team participated in the last 5 competitions. In Beijing-2008, 16 of our wrestlers took to the mat, which is a record in our sports history. As for the individual sports, freestyle wrestling has surpassed the other two sports in all Olympic Games.

Traditions in boxing and judo
As well as in wrestling, the Azerbaijani national team participated in all the Games in boxing and judo. Boxers in Athens-2004 and judokas in Tokyo-2020 managed to outnumber wrestlers. Leather glove makers have signed their record by being represented by 11 athletes at Rio-2016. Those who wrote history on tatami were able to be represented by 9 people in Tokyo-2020.

Count us in
Apart from wrestling, boxing and judo, the Azerbaijani national team participated in all the Olympics in three other sports. These types are athletics, swimming and shooting. Our representatives of the first two types go to the Games based on the principle of "participation is the main" of Pierre de Coubertin. Swimmers often achieved this with a "wild-card". Although our shooters won medals in Sydney-2000 and Athens-2004, later they, like athletes and swimmers, went to the Olympics just to show the existence of our team. In four of the seven Olympics, the Azerbaijani sniper competed in both types of shooting. In total, shot putters made 6 attempts, and those competing in the stand made 5.

On the road to development
It is impossible to imagine gymnastics and taekwondo competitions without Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan national team participated in all the Olympics organized in the 21st century. This tradition continues after our first two multisport events. Our road cyclists have joined them in the last three races. This can also be applied to the type of gymnastics that was later restored for us. We are talking about gymnastics. Triathlon did not pass without us in the last two Olympics. In fact, fencing can also be included in this list. We have also had the Musketeers in the last three Games. Our representatives, who have had such an opportunity before, have performed at a total of 5 multi-sport events with breaks.

The Forgotten Ones
Our participation in the Olympics in some sports is about to be forgotten. Azerbaijan’s weightlifters, who participated in 5 consecutive competitions, cannot enter the Games after doping scandals. Diving and equestrian, which we represented in the first two Olympics, are also a sign of the past.

Coincidence and new beginnings
Our athletes have participated in the Olympics in some other sports. Sometimes these were due to coincidence, sometimes due to other reasons. It is impossible to imagine karate without us, which was included in the Olympic program only once. Our only representation in badminton and archery, which are far from popular in our country, happened recently. Our athletes, who participated in two Games in canoeing and rowing, which have traditions even during the USSR, were left out of Tokyo-2020. There is only one participation in the slalom type of canoe. The same can be said about the track type of cycling. These two types are among the unpopular ones for our country.

Without teams
There are no team competitions among the 25 sports represented in the Olympics. It is true that our women's national teams have had such a chance many times in both volleyball and field hockey. Instead, our rhythmic gymnastics team tried to conquer Olympia twice. In the rowing competitions, couples have also entered the starting line. When talking about participation in the Olympics, one point should be noted. Sometimes the same athletes in several sports - track cycling, shooting and canoeing - had the opportunity to test their strength in not one, but two competitions.

* - our athlete who won the license was not taken into account because he did not participate in the competition.
** - our rhythmic gymnastics team participated in the competition with six athletes in 2008 and five athletes in 2020.

Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz