The 39th Athletics Winter Championship, organized by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan and sponsored by the Financial Chain Corporation, has ended.
The winners were revealed in the 60 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, and 3000 m, in the relay race of 4×200, hop skip and jump, broad jump, high jump, and shot put at the competition held at the Republican Olympic Centre.
According to Maharram Sultanzadeh, Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Athletics Federation, almost all the strongest athletes of the country took part in the championship, including members of the national team, athletes of sports schools and societies from Baku, as well as from the regions of Azerbaijan, where the coaches of the federation work, i.e. Ganja, Ismayilli, Khyzy, Barda, and Nakhchivan. The number of athletes taking part in the championship was about 140. He mentioned that the abolishment of the district and city youth and sports departments, the creation of regional departments, and the delay in the appointment of the leaders caused a decrease in the number of participants in the championship compared with last year, and the regions were not presented in the number we had expected.”
The championship did not give new names and mainly the sportsmen who had already been known were among the winners, Nazim Babayev, the leader of the Athletics Federation won hop skip and jump with a score of 16.40, Yekaterina Sariyeva entered the first start of the hop skip and jump with the score 13.27. Lamiya Veliyeva was the only participant to win 3 gold medals, setting up the personal record for the 200 m and winning the 60 m and 400 m championships. Orkhan Aslanov showed a result of 7.13 m in the long jump. The results of the championship entered the world athletics rating.
The International Federation introduced a new regulation as of January 2023. An athlete could qualify for the world and European championships, and the Olympic Games by reaching a norm at any start before, but it does not happen now. The International Federation approves the participants only after registration of the competitions in advance in the global calendar by all National Federations.
Mr. Sultanzadeh said the championship was a qualifying event for the Balkan Athletics Championship, to be held on February 11 in Istanbul (Turkey). He mentioned that though the athletes had not been at the peak of their form, they were expected to show better results in Istanbul.
All these competitions will be qualifying to participate in the European Indoor Championship to be held on March 2-5 in Istanbul.
Mr.Sultanzadeh appreciated the support from the Financial Chain Corporation and noted the company as a partner of the federation during the classical competition for the first time. He noted the fact that the arena had been decorated very nicely, and athletes and judges were awarded prizes by FCHAIN. He mentioned the company’s support at the First Family Athletics Games held in late December 2022, organized by the Athletics Federation, as well.
The Secretary General of the Azerbaijani Athletics Federation expressed his hope bilaterally beneficial cooperation with Financial Chain Corporation to continue in the future too.
https://www.azerisport.com/m/athletics/20230131135959796.html
