Azerbaijani fencer Anna Bashta answered journalists' questions after finishing her fight at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
Azerbaijan’s sabre fencer gave a statement after her round of 32 hurdle and stumbling in the round of 16, per Idman.biz.
- Your Olympic journey has come to an end. What can you say about your two matches?
- It was not possible to become an Olympic champion. I will hope for Los Angeles 2028. I performed well. I did not expect to advance in the round of 32. I defeated a powerful Chinese fencer. She was statistically significantly superior to me. I was back after a serious injury. During the bout, I had pain in my leg several times. I felt it in the next match as well. I also had some mistakes. It is impossible to go far with one leg. I did it. The main thing is that I passed the first stage. It was a serious match. I was well motivated. Every athlete goes to the Olympics for gold. But about me, the situation was different because of the injury. I participated in the race, and I felt the Olympic emotions. Now I will heal my injury and come back.
- If we compare it with the last Olympics, considering that you won the license at the end, can we say that it was difficult this time?
- It is impossible to compare two Olympics. Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 are different. At that time, I was afraid of everything. Here the situation is different. In Japan, I was far from the leaders, in the lower ranks of the ranking. Nevertheless, I was able to perform well. This time, because I could not participate in the last three tournaments, I was significantly down in the ranking. For this reason, I had a strong opponent. In principle, I am glad that I won the license. It had no effect on me gaining strength. The priority for me was to protect my injured leg so that the situation does not get worse. Because big, great plans are still ahead.
- How is your relationship with Olga Kharlan?
- We are good. I can't say we're best friends, but we have known each other since we were young. Our relationship is also good. We even hugged. We always supported each other, I wish her a gold medal at the Olympic Games. She is truly one of the best athletes.
Idman.biz
