"Almost all the favorite athletes participated in the Olympic festival. This further increased the interest and competition in the competition."
Idman.biz reports that this was said by Subhan Akhundov (+90 kg), the bronze medalist of the judo competitions of the XVIII European Youth Summer Olympic Festival (EYOF) held in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia.
In his statement to the press service of the National Olympic Committee, he shared his impressions of the competition: "I lost to my French opponent in the 1/4 finals. Actually, it was a meeting I could win. I had even won against him before, at the European Cup held in Teplitse, Czech Republic. Unfortunately, I couldn't choose the right tactics this time. Although I lost the chance for the semi-finals, I won in the consolation matches. First, I defeated the judoka who competed under the flag of the International Olympic Committee, and then my opponent from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the match for the bronze medal, I faced a Czech athlete. I had lost to that athlete at the European Cup. This time, I eliminated him from the competition, took revenge and won the bronze medal. True, I had aimed for the championship before the competition. But I don't regret it. Every competition is an experience. The world championship is ahead of us. I believe that I will prepare better for that competition and win the championship title. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my gratitude to the National Olympic Committee, to the leadership of the Azerbaijan Judo Federation for creating all the conditions for us to train, as well as to our coaches who contributed to my success," said Subhan Akhundov.
It should be noted that Azerbaijani judokas finished the festival with 8 medals.
Idman.biz