Nurlana Mammadzada, Secretary General of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation, made a statement to journalists following the opening ceremony of the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup, which held in Baku.

The World Cup holds great importance for athletes in terms of qualification for the Paris Olympics. Around 300 athletes are competing in this tournament. Our gymnast Nikita Simonov will also participate in these competitions. In previous tournaments, he ranked 1st among 45 athletes in the Rings discipline. We hope he will continue his successful performance from Germany here in Baku, in front of the home crowd. Ivan Tikhonov and our other young athletes will also be competing.