Interview of Azerbaijani parataekwondo player Imamaddin Khalilov (70 kg, K-44), who won a gold medal at the world championship held in Veracruz, Mexico, to İdman.biz website
- We congratulate you on the occasion of the world championship. How do you evaluate your performance in the World Cup?
- Thank you for the congratulations. My most difficult opponent was Cuba in the semi-finals, and then in the final, the Uzbek athlete, the champion of the last Asian Games. The competition at the World Championships is very high at my weight. There are Olympic, world and European champions here. Even the Spaniard who was my opponent in my first fight was the world and European champion.
- After parataekwondo was included in the program of the Summer Olympic Games, you made history by winning the first gold medal at the world championship. How would you interpret that?
- There are some feelings that cannot be expressed in words. You just have to live it. This is one of those feelings. Of course, I am very happy, very proud.
- You won a prize in each of the 6 competitions you participated in this year. To whom do you owe these successes?
- This year, I participated in the finals of 5 out of 6 races. I have won 4 championships. I settled for a silver medal in one. I was 3rd in the other competition. Of course, our head coach Farid Taghizadeh and our senior coach Yashar Safarov have the biggest share in winning them. I thank them.
- The time difference between Mexico and Azerbaijan did not cause any difficulties for you?
- The time difference between Mexico and Azerbaijan created some difficulties for us. Basically, our semi-final and final matches coincided with 03:00, 04:00 at night Azerbaijan time. But thankfully we were able to overcome it.
- What will be your main goal at the Paris-2024 Summer Paralympic Games?
- I also won the European and World championships. After that, my only goal is to win a gold medal in Paris-2024 and sing the Azerbaijani national anthem in France.
Emin Agha
Idman.biz
