Azernews.Az

Laman Ismayilova

Read more

Two Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestlers have won gold medals at the European Championship held in Bratislava, Slovakia, Azernews reports.

Nihat Mammadli (60 kg) defeated Serbian wrestler Georgi Tibilov in the final, while Khasret Jafarov (67 kg) triumphed over Bulgarian representative Abu Muslim Amaev.

Thus, Nihat Mammadli became a two-time, while Khasret Jafarov became a three-time European champion.

Ulvi Ganizade (72 kg), who lost to Alexander Leontchik, secured a bronze medal.

Earlier, freestyle wrestlers from the Azerbaijani national team won 1 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze medals, while Greco-Roman wrestlers claimed 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. In the women's competitions, Zhalya Aliyeva won a bronze medal in the weight category up to 57 kg.

Wrestling remains the most popular sport in the county and is overseen by the National Wrestling Federation, which was established in 1993.

The Rio Games opened a new page in wrestling for Azerbaijan. The country became one of only two nations ever to increase the number of medals achieved in five consecutive games.

In 2020, Azerbaijani freestyle wrestlers finished third in the overall medal table of the Individual World Cup in Serbia.

National wrestlers won two medals, including silver and bronze. Russia topped the medal table, followed by Turkiye.

In 2022, Azerbaijani wrestler Osman Nurmagomedov (92 kg) was crowned the World Champion in Belgrade.

Nurmagomedov became the World Champion after defeating the Russian wrestler in the final.

At 2024 Summer Olympic, Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg), freestyle wrestlers Giorgi Meshvildishvili (125 kg) and Magomedkhan Magomedov (97 kg) won bronze medals for Azerbaijan.