Zemfira Meftahaddinova: "Thanks to Heydar Aliyev's attention, sports began to develop rapidly in our country"

"Heydar Aliyev has done extremely important work for the development of sports in our country."

This was stated to Idman.biz by Olympic champion, Vice-President of the Azerbaijan Shooting Federation and the National Olympic Committee, Zemfira Meftahaddinova, while talking about National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

She stated that the care and attention shown to sports by the Great Leader, whose 102nd birthday is today, was a great motivation for athletes: "After the collapse of the USSR, coaches and athletes went their separate ways. After the Great Leader came to power, he brought everyone together again. The care shown to sports by the state was a stimulus for them. Heydar Aliyev often held meetings with athletes and was interested in sports separately. This attitude created confidence in the development of sports in our country. It was the result of this attention that this field began to develop rapidly in our country in a short time. Olympic sports complexes were built in the regions, and the necessary conditions were created for the development of sports. Athletes, in turn, tried to live up to this trust."

Meftahaddinova recalls her meetings with the National Leader with great pride: "I first met the Great Leader in 1995 at an event organized at the Palace of Hand Games (now the Sports Palace - ed.). On that day, I was awarded the "Progress" medal by Heydar Aliyev. In 2000, the Great Leader awarded me the "Glory" order. This was a great source of pride for me. It is a great honor for me to receive a medal from such a great personality as Heydar Aliyev."

Aytac Sahed
Idman.biz