On August 22, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva received the athletes who achieved results at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games.
The Head of our state considered the 4th place of the Azerbaijani team at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games as a great achievement.
“Our athletes have once again shown the strength of our country by winning 99 medals - 29 of them are the Gold medals. It is very gratifying that our athletes won medals in 19 sports disciplines. This shows that many sports disciplines are successfully developing in our country. Of course, first come the wrestlers as they have won 23 medals - including 8 “Gold”. And this is also natural, because wrestling is our national sport and we have traditionally been successful in wrestling. The second place is taken by the representatives of Gymnastics. Our athletes have won 17 medals in three Gymnastics disciplines, including 8 Gold medals. Kickboxing - non-Olympic discipline ranks the 3rd. The number of medals they have won is 15 and three of them are the Gold medals. So, this is a huge achievement indeed because more than 50 countries participated in these Games and, as I said earlier, the competition was very tense”, – the Head of state added.
Then the Head of the sports department of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Head of the Azerbaijani delegation at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games - Elnur Mammadov - expressed his gratitude to the Head of state for receiving the athletes who won medals.
Later, along with the members of the Azerbaijani delegation in various sports disciplines, the Gold & Silver medalist of Islamiad, Rhythmic gymnast - Gullu Aghalarzade, expressed her gratitude to the Head of the country for the reception and mentioned that they will justify the expectations given to them at the competitions to come. A member of the National Team in Rhythmic Gymnastics - Gullu Aghalarzade, congratulated President of Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation (AGF) Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva on behalf of all the athletes and mentioned that all the achievements were possible thanks to the support of Mr. President and Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva: “We express our deepest gratitude to you for this support. I would like to mention that August 26 is the birthday of Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva. On behalf of all athletes, I sincerely congratulate Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva. I would like to emphasize that at the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games, coaches, judges, medical staff, and athletes - everyone constantly supported each other. Mr. President, the correct policy you follow has always inspired us to win as athletes of an independent country. Of course, I hope that at the next edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games, we will continue our pass and achieve even more wonderful victories. We are proud to be citizens of such a country. Thank you very much”.
At the end, a memorial photo was taken.