Maharram Sultanzadeh: The squad for the Tokyo World Championship will be determined after August 25

"It is too early to say anything about the composition of the Azerbaijani team for the World Championship to be held in Tokyo, because the qualifying stage continues until August 25."

Maharram Sultanzadeh, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Athletics Federation, told Idman.biz about this.

He emphasized that although the selections for the main competition of the year in marathon and race walking have been completed, the selection in other types will continue until the end of the month: "This year, the Islamic Solidarity Games will be held in Saudi Arabia, so many of our athletes prefer to prepare for that competition. There is a greater chance to reach the final and compete for a medal there. This is not yet possible at the World Championship, but I think the situation will change in the near future."

Speaking about the candidates to participate in the World Championship, he specifically emphasized Yekaterina Sariyeva in triple jump, Rustam Mammadov in the same discipline, and hammer thrower Anna Skidan: "But Anna Skidan is on maternity leave, preparing to become a mother. Therefore, it is unlikely that she will participate in the competition in Tokyo. It is very difficult to fully prepare and perform well in a short period of time."

Rustam Mammadov is preparing for the Islamic Solidarity Games: "His coach believes that it is more appropriate to skip the World Championship and focus on Islamic Solidarity Games. Because the Islamic Solidarity Games will be held in November, and the World Championship will be held in the second half of September. This means very little time to prepare for Saudi Arabia after Tokyo. Therefore, many athletes prefer Islamic Solidarity Games."

He also noted that the final squad for the World Championship will be determined after August 25: "In addition to meeting the standards, the world ranking will also be taken into account. We will see who can get to Tokyo with the ranking. For example, Elham Naghiyev, the sprinter who won the 100 and 200 meters at the European Team Championship in Maribor, has emerged. He recently won the 200 meters at the Balkan Championship in Greece, updating his personal record to 20.70 seconds. These are very serious results and Naghiyev may get to the World Championship with a "wild card". We'll see how it goes."

In the end, he noted that the Azerbaijani national team has left for Almaty for the tournament dedicated to the memory of Gusman Kosanov. This tournament has the status of a continental tour, and athletes can also meet the selection standards for the World Championship here.

Zaki Feyzullayev
Idman.biz