Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

The BMX World Championship has wrapped up in Rock Hill city of South Carolina, U.S..

The race brought together 3,750 athletes from 48 countries.

The Azerbaijani delegation participated in the event as a guest, Report.az reported.

During the meeting with Mayor of Rock Hill city Doug Echols, First Vice-President of Azerbaijani Cycling Federation Sahib Alakbarov stressed that accepting the baton of the BMX World Championship from a country such as the U.S. is an additional responsibility.

The International Cycling Council noticed the high-level organization of the cycling race during the European Games by Azerbaijan and decided to authorize the Azerbaijani Cycling Federation with hosting the 2018 World Championship and the preparation works started under President Ilham Aliyev’s instructions.

The two-time Olympic champion, six-time world champion, Columbian Mariana Pajon, addressing the event, said that she would be glad to come to Azerbaijan next year.

“I express my gratitude to the Azerbaijani Cycling Federation for the popularization of BMX. I am happy that next year, the world championship will be held in Azerbaijan", said the athlete.

At the end of the competition, the flag of the championship was presented to the Azerbaijani delegation as a baton.

The BMX World Championship will be held in Baku on July 5-9, 2018.

UCI BMX World Championships are the world championships for BMX racing (bicycle motorcross) held under the regulations of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport's international governing body.

The UCI BMX World Championships are held annually and the winner of each event is crowned the BMX Cycling World Champion.

The UCI awards a gold medal and a rainbow jersey to the winner. Silver and bronze medals are awarded to the second and third place contestants. World champions wear their rainbow jersey until the following year's championship, but they may wear it only in the type of event in which they won it.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

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