Idman.biz
Interview with Zulfugar Suleymanov (M40, 67 kg), a veteran weightlifter from Azerbaijan, for Idman.biz
- You won a gold medal at the European Masters Weightlifting Championships in Durres, Albania. How does it feel to experience such joy in the same country after a twelve-year break?
- It's an incredible feeling. Twelve years ago, I was third at the European Championships among adults in Tirana. After so much time, I can't describe in words how it feels to represent our country again in Albania, and on top of that, to experience the joy of winning the championship. I even teared up when our anthem played. It's wonderful to return to sports after so long with such a result.
- How do you evaluate the championship in general?
- It was a very large competition in terms of scale, with over 1000 participants. Honestly, I wasn't expecting this result from myself. I did here what I couldn't do during training in Baku, and I also broke the European record. This was my dream. I wrote the name of Azerbaijan there. This will never be erased from history, because since the weight categories will be updated from the first of next month, no one will be able to break the record in this category. The competition went well for our team as well. We will return to the homeland with a total of four medals, including two gold and two silver.
- You were disqualified for doping twelve years ago. How did you decide to return to sports after so much time?
- When talking with our athlete friends, they always said that you need to make some kind of comeback to have a new beginning. As you know, I was penalized and removed from sports many years ago. I fought for a long time, I couldn't come to terms with it. I have applied to international courts many times, and finally, in March of last year, they canceled the life sentence. I stayed away from sports for twelve years. At that time, there were certain problems between our federation and the international federation. During that period, they doped about thirty of our athletes. It is clear that this is biased. Some were not interested in fighting, but I fought to the end.
- When did you start preparing for the championship?
- I started training in November of last year. So, we were sitting with friends on my birthday. During the conversation, friends made such a proposal. I decided to check it out. The main thing is that our efforts were not wasted.
- What have you been doing during this time?
- I worked as an inspector at Azerbaijan Airlines. Since I was penalized, I could not engage in sports activities.
- What do you plan to do next?
- I want to contribute to Azerbaijani sports as a coach.
- Twelve years away from sports. It probably wasn't easy for you.
- It was very bad, very bad. It was a black mark on both my name and my family's name. You know, we are the biggest sports family in Azerbaijan. We are nine brothers, five of whom are prize-winners and winners of world and European championships. No one in our family has ever been caught doping. With my victory in Durres, I proved once again that we have earned whatever we have by our own strength. I cleared this black stain from both my name and my surname.
Aytaj Sahed
Idman.biz
