Our European champion: "All that's left is to win a gold medal at the World Championship and the Olympic Games."

"I prepared well for the European Championship."

This was stated to Idman.biz by Nihat Mammadli, a wrestler of the Azerbaijani national team.

The wrestler, who won a gold medal at the European Championship held in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, said that the fight was not easy: "I didn't have any difficulties until the final, both last year and this year. However, if we compare the decisive matches, I had more difficulties last year. This year, there was a tense meeting with an experienced Serbian athlete. But in the end, I was able to win. In general, I haven't had any serious injuries lately. The preparations went well. This was also evident in the competition."

The Greco-Roman wrestler, who competes in the 60 kg category, emphasized that his main goal after this is the gold of the world championship: "As far as I know, we don't have a wrestler who has been a European and world champion twice in a row. My main goal now is that. I won Europe, all that's left is the world championship. It is clear that the world championship will be very tense. I hope I can achieve my goal."

Mammadli also spoke about his Olympic dream: "Like all athletes, I also dream of Olympic gold. Unfortunately, I was not destined to participate in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. I am already doing my best to win the gold of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Since I wrestle in the Olympic weight, I am not thinking about changing weight. It is possible that during this time I wrestled at 63 kg in some competitions with the advice of my coaches. The coaches will decide on this. But I want to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics with 60 kg. I hope that I will be lucky enough to become an Olympic champion."

It should be noted that Mammadli won a gold medal by defeating Serbian wrestler Georgi Tibilov in the final of the European Championship held in Bratislava. In total, the Azerbaijani national team, which finished the competition with 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals, took first place in the team standings with 151 points.

Aytaj Sahed
Idman.biz