Five Azerbaijani athletes to struggle for medals in Rio today

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Five Azerbaijani sportsmen will join the struggles for medals on the 7th day of the Olympic Games in Rio.

National athletes Ruslan Lunev and Anna Skidan will begin their participation at the Olympics Games in shooting and hammer throw, respectively, on August 12.

Azerbaijani judoka Ushangi Kakouri will fight Latvian athlete Arthur Nikiforenko.

Boxer Albert Salimov (60 kg) will continue his struggle in 1/4 finals, while another boxer Kamran Shahsuvarly (75 kg) will get in the ring at 1/8 finals stage.

To date, Azerbaijani sportsmen managed to win two silver medals, and both in judo.

Currently, Azerbaijan ranks the 39th in the overall country ranking. The leaders are United States, China, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Hungary, Russia, Great Britain, Germany and Italy.

Yesterday, Azerbaijani boxer Sotomayor Collazo Lorenzo defeating Ukrainian athlete Volodymyr Matviychuk passed in the 1/8 finals. In the meantime, Teymur Mammadov went on the 1/4 finals of boxing after defeating Dutch athlete Peter Muhlenberg.

Azerbaijani squad is represented in Rio Olympics by 56 athletes who compete in 18 sports in both Summer Olympic Games and Summer Paralympic Games. 36 of them will participate in the Olympic Games for their first time.

Compared to previous years, this year Azerbaijan participates in four new sports, including triathlon, archery, cycling and canoe slalom.

National Olympic team of Azerbaijan includes six freestyle wrestlers, eight Greco-Roman wrestlers, 11 boxers, six judokas, five rowers, four athletes, four taekwondo fighters, three gymnasts, three cyclists, two swimmers and one athlete per each in fencing, triathlon, archery and shooting.