Experts differently evaluate the performances of Azerbaijani Olympians

Azerbaijan shared 30-31 places with Croatia at the Summer Olympics in Paris and achieved the best result in the history of its participation in the Olympics, winning 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, and shared these positions with Croatia in the standings.  At the previous 2012 Olympics in London, Azerbaijan took 32nd place.

However, the results of the national team look pale against the background of the performance of Uzbek athletes in Paris. Sports journalist Joshgun Eldar oglu considers the results of the Olympics to be unsuccessful for Azerbaijan. "The team was saved by 2 gold medals, some of the medals in our team were taken by legionnaires," he told Turan.

"Azerbaijan does not train athletes, it brings ready-made legionnaires from other countries who do not support the country.  They say that our country has done nothing for them, but they have raised the flag of Azerbaijan," the expert explained.

Legionnaires do not create their own sports school, although they are assigned such a task. But they get big fees," he added, citing the example of Maria Stadnik, who has been playing for Azerbaijan for many years. Therefore, it is more correct to spend state funds not on fees to foreigners, but on the development of domestic sports. 

The head of the sports Department of the National Olympic Committee, Hasanaga Rzayev, called Azerbaijan's results at the Olympics successful, although they could have been "even better." He highlighted the work of the National Judo Federation, which showed a good result.  The expert explained the failure of the classical style wrestlers by the presence of past problems in the federation. For the first time at the Paris Olympics, Azerbaijani athletes performed very well in 3+3 basketball competitions,“ he added.

"There is a generational and leadership change in every federation, so I consider the country's result in Paris to be positive," the head of the department said. He does not agree with the critical opinion about legionnaires, and called Maria Stadnik an Azerbaijani athlete who has been worthily representing Azerbaijan for many years.

It should be noted that judoists Hidayat Heydarov (73 kg) and Zelim Kotsoyev (100 kg) became Olympic champions. Taekwondo practitioner Hashim Magomedov (58 kg) and boxer Alfonso Dominguez (92 kg) won silver medals, while Greco-Roman wrestler Hasrat Jafarov (67 kg) and freestyle wrestler Giorgi Meshvildishvili won bronze.