Azernews.Az

By Laman Ismayilova

The European Olympic Committee has awarded Secretary General of the Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee (NOC) Azar Aliyev, Azernews reports, citing NOC.

He received a special award for his contribution to the high level of competition at the 16th European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF), held in Slovakia on July 24-30.

The European Youth Olympic Festival is the largest multi-sports event for young athletes aged 14-18.

The festival, which takes place under the auspices of the European Olympic Committees, gives young athletes the first taste of Olympism and allows them to gain invaluable experience for further competitions on their way to the Olympic Games.

Azerbaijan was represented at EYOF 2022 by 33 sportsmen. National judokas brought home eight medals including two gold, four silver, and two bronze.

On the last day of the festival, Azar Aliyev, who was a member of the EYOF Coordination Commission, met with the national team in Slovakia.

He thanked the sportsmen for their perseverance and the results they achieved. Azar Aliyev then presented NOC's special award to the team members.

Azerbaijani corner was organized at the OCEP pavilion (Olympic Program of Culture and Education) during the European Youth Olympic Festival 2022.

OCEP is a joint effort of the NOC Azerbaijan, the EYOF Baku 2019 Organising Committee, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Supported by the EOC and the Olympic Solidarity, the main goal of the program is to promote culture, sport, and Olympic values among the young generations in Europe.

The Olympic Culture and Education Programme was launched in Baku in 2019.

The initiative was presented on the occasion of the "150 days to go" event for the European Youth Olympic Festival, held in Baku on July 21-27, 2019.

In 2021-2022, the geography of OCEP expanded and the number of represented countries reached 56.

Over this time, the events and activities organized by twinned schools from Azerbaijan covered about 200,000 schoolchildren.

As part of the festival, OCEP schoolchildren visited the EYOF 2022 Sports Park, sports facilities in the area, and watched sports competitions.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lamiva993