President: Azerbaijani athletes won 851 medals in all international competitions this year

Baku, December 18, AZERTAC "This year the Azerbaijani athletes delighted our people with their great victories. Sport in Azerbaijani is rapidly developing. Every year our athletes show high results in various international competitions, and win medals. And this year, the number of medals is quite a lot. Azerbaijani sportsmen won 851 medals in all international competitions this year, of them 347 are gold ones,” said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, president of the National Olympic Committee Ilham Aliyev as he addressed a ceremony dedicated to sport results of 2017. “Compared to last year, the number of medals is quite higher. This is indicative of the fact that sport is developing dynamically in Azerbaijan, and our athletes are gaining great victories on a continued basis." The head of state said Azerbaijani athletes gained many victories, singling out some of them. "Our chess players became European champions for the third time. This is a grerat victory, and a great result. This result shows that our athletes reach the highest peaks both in combat, and team events, as well as the intellectual kinds of sport. Being the first in the European Chess Championship is truly a great achievement and a great victory." "This year, our two athletes, Mahammadrasul Majidov and Haji Aliyev became three-time world champions in boxing and freestyle wrestling. This is also a historic victory. Being a three-time world champion in Olympic sports is a great success, a great victory," the head of state said. Pointing to the fact that the graduate of the Azerbaijani sports school, Azerbaijani athlete Ramil Guliyev became a world athletics champion for the first time this year, President Ilham Aliyev described this as a historic victory too.