On August 23, the 40th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships kicked off in Valencia, Spain. This competition also serves as a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Representing our country are individual gymnasts Zohra Aghamirova, Ilona Zeynalova, and Kamila Gafarova, along with the national group team members - Gullu Aghalarzada, Laman Alimuradova, Kamilla Aliyeva, Zeynab Hummatova and Yelizaveta Luzan.

According to the rules, Olympic quotas will be awarded to the top 14 individual gymnasts and the top 5 group teams in the All-around qualification (excluding those who already secured spots by finishing in the top three at last year’s World Championships).

On the first day of the competition, the elegant representatives of rhythmic gymnastics performed in the individual qualification with Hoop and Ball exercises. Today, gymnasts competed with Clubs and Ribbon. Based on the overall results of the All-around qualification, our national team member, European Championship bronze medalist and four-time silver and bronze medalist of the Summer Universiade, Zohra Aghamirova, ranked 12th with a total score of 95.250, securing a quota for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

With this result, Aghamirova also qualified for the World Championship finals in the All-around competition.

Notably, this is the first gymnastics quota Azerbaijan has won for Paris 2024. It’s worth mentioning that Zohra Aghamirova also represented our country at the 32nd Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, becoming the first Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnast to compete in the individual program at the Olympic Games - an achievement that cemented her name in the history of Azerbaijani gymnastics.

Tomorrow, the national group team will take part in the All-around qualification with their 5 Hoops and 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls exercises. On August 26, gymnasts will continue their performances in the finals for both individual and group programs. On the final day of the World Championships, the group teams will compete for medals in the apparatus finals (5 Hoops, 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls).