Turan Bayramov Contends for World Championship

Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler Turan Bayramov aims to become a world champion in the 74 kg weight category.

"Report" reports that the wrestler said this in a statement to the press service of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation.

He said that his injury has completely healed:

"My first competition after the Olympics was the Alexander Medved tournament held in Belarus in February this year. In July, I wrestled in the rating tournament held in Hungary. Being away from competitions for more than 5 months, of course, had its effect. My shoulder has fully recovered for a month. I am ready to wrestle at full strength in competitions. My goal is to become a world champion. Because this is the dream I had since childhood. I want to become a champion in the most difficult weight in the world and bring the first gold medal to Azerbaijan in the 74 kg category. For years, Russian and American wrestlers have dominated this weight. I will do my best to put an end to it."

He evaluated the preparation process in Turkey:

"The preparation process went very well. The conditions in Kastamonu were at a high level. We were together in a training camp with the national teams of Turkey, Bahrain, North Macedonia, Romania and Uzbekistan. It was a very productive training camp. We did both physical and technical-tactical training. Although more attention was paid to increasing physical fitness, there were also exercises on the mat. I consider this training camp as a very useful preparation process on the eve of the world championship."

The wrestler explained the reason for his defeat in the last seconds at the Paris Olympic Games:

"Yes, thank God, I participated in both the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games. I think I could have won a medal at the last Olympics. Because I was preparing at a high level. I did my best in training camps. Our coaches thought so too. Relaxing in the last second in the meeting with Chermen Valiev cost me dearly. I was left without a medal. Chermen was a strong opponent. I believe that I will not make those mistakes anymore. It was a great experience for me.

The athlete said that he also wants to have his say in the 74 kg weight category:

"I get asked this question a lot. I wrestled at 65 kg in youth and junior. Because I wrestled in the same weight for a long time, I adapted to the tempo and strength of that category. Then I suddenly jumped to 74 kg. With this, the level of the opponents also rose. They were athletes who had their say in the European and world championships. From the outside, it seems that I am standing still, not using any tricks. But this is not the case. It should be taken into account that 74 kg is the most difficult, most competitive weight category in freestyle wrestling. All the opponents are strong, experienced wrestlers. I have wrestled in two Olympics. I have a medal from the European Championship. I have won the Islamic Games. The time has come to have my say in this weight. Therefore, I must switch to an attacking style. God willing, it will be so in the next competitions."