There are 28 days left until 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 4 weeks.
After recalling the summer Olympics in which Azerbaijani athletes participated in the years of independence, and after reviewing the prize collection and participation of our representatives, we will pay attention to our medal "hunters" in multi-sport events until Paris-2024.
8-medal Collection
Some athletes go to the Olympics as if they were hunting for medals. Those who have achieved their wish several times can be considered medal hunters. There are eight such athletes in the history of the Azerbaijan national team. Their medal collection is rich with two or more Olympic awards. Of course, our athletes did not climb the podium 28 times like Michael Phelps, who managed to win 8 medals in one Olympics. This is also understandable. Successful Azerbaijani athletes compete for only one medal at each Olympic Games. In history, only a few of our athletes have competed for two medals in the same Olympics - in shooting, canoeing and track cycling.
Seven Wrestlers and One Sniper
Our athletes who have won more than one Olympic medal represent two types. In wrestling, which is the most successful sport for Azerbaijan, 7 of our representatives won at least two awards. Five of them distinguished themselves in freestyle, one in Greco-Roman, and one in women's wrestling. Only one athlete in the “eight” is not a wrestler. This also applies to shooting.
Wrestler Changed Silver to Gold
There are two partners in the name of the best Azerbaijani sportsman according to the Olympic medals. Both of them are freestyle wrestlers. The first such success was achieved by Namig Abdullayev. He reached the finals in the first two Olympics of independence. The wrestler who settled for silver in Atlanta-1996 won all his opponents four years later in Sydney. He made it to the finals in different weight classes. Satisfied with silver at 52 kg, Abdullayev celebrated the championship at 54 kg.
Only Champion Reached the Final
The record of Abdullayev was repeated 16 years later. Like him, Toghrul Asgarov managed to win one gold and one silver medal at the Olympics. Asgarov, who reached the finals twice in a row, defeated all his opponents in London-2012. He is the first and only athlete in the history of Azerbaijan who, even after becoming the champion, made it to the finals. The wrestler who lost in the final in Rio settled for silver. He also stood out in different weights - first in 60 kg and then in 65 kg.
Right on the nose twice
Zemfira Meftahatdinova is the only representative of Azerbaijan who has won at least two Olympic medals, but is not a wrestler. Our stand shooter was successful in the skit. She went down in the history of Azerbaijan as the first female athlete to win two awards at the Olympics. Our sniper is also the first representative to win another medal after becoming the champion. Our shooter who "shoots right on the nose" in Sydney-2000 changed gold to bronze four years later. The third place in Athens-2004 makes her one of the partners of the 3rd place in the ranking of medals.
Different weight, different medal
If two of our athletes keep gold and silver in their collection, the number of those who paired gold and bronze is also two. This result of Meftahatdinova was repeated 12 years later. This time, he was a freestyle wrestler. Sharif Sharifov won gold first, and bronze four years later. In London-2012, he did not know an opponent in the 84 kg category. In Rio-2016, he won bronze in the weight of 86 kg.
Our Masha
Our other four athletes who won two or more awards did not win the championship. The absolute record for the total number of medals belongs to Maria Stadnik. Our only female wrestler who has won two or more awards is 5th in terms of achievements, but she is far ahead in terms of number. "Our Masha" has won the podium in four Olympics. Our wrestler, who lost only in the finals in London-2012 and Rio-2016, won bronze in Beijing-2008 and Tokyo-2020. Stadnik, who achieved his first three successes at 48 kg and in his last test at 50 kg, will go to Paris. Our athlete, who will fight for the 5th medal in the 5th Olympics, deserves to win the gold that is not in his collection. It is true that the veteran, who is at the end of his career, barely got her license and is not considered one of the favorites. But there is an example of Lionel Messi. The Argentinian, who could not become a world champion in the best years of his career, achieved the missing success only at the age of 35. As many have said, football owed him a debt that he paid in the end. Based on that logic, the Olympics also owe Stadnik a golden debt, and why should he not pay?
Loser of the Finals
Maria Stadnik is not the only wrestler who lost two finals at the Olympics. Like her, Rovshan Bayramov advanced to the decisive match in two consecutive competitions. Our only Greco-Roman wrestler with more than one Olympic medal did it in Beijing-2008 and London-2012. In both competitions, his earnings were silver. Our "Classic" made these attempts at 55 kg weight.
Author of the Hat-Trick
In the history of Azerbaijan, only two athletes left behind "2" in the number of Olympic medals. The second place in the total number of awards belongs to Khetag Gazyumov. Our freestyle wrestler has climbed the podium three times. But he always had to look at the champion from the outside. Our wrestler, who won bronze in Beijing-2008 and London-2012, saw his first final in Rio-2016. But the defeat in the decisive match won him only silver. Our wrestler, who scored a hat-trick of awards, won bronze at 96 kg and silver at 97 kg.
Dream of a Unique Indicator in Paris
No one in the history of Azerbaijani sports has collected all the medals at the Olympics. Two of our wrestlers have the opportunity to complete their collection in Paris-2024. Like Stadnik, Haji Aliyev is going to the French capital for the next success. Although he won less awards, he has everything but gold. The wrestler who won the bronze in 2016 stumbled in the final in 2020. It is in Aliyev's hands to make the third prize higher. Whichever of our two wrestlers, who have at least two medals and will participate in Paris, gets gold, will take the top of the medal ranking of our athletes.
A total of 38 athletes won the 49 medals won by the Azerbaijani national team at the Olympic Games.
Vugar Kheyrullayev
Idman.biz
