Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
competed at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
The
National Olympic Committee of the Azerbaijani Republic fielded a team of 56 athletes, 42 men and 14 women, across 14 sports at the Games. Azerbaijan made its Olympic debut in four sports (archery, slalom canoeing, track cycling, and triathlon). It was the nation's largest ever delegation sent to the Olympics in its independent history, beating the record of 53 athletes who attended the London Games four years earlier. More than 60 percent of the nation's roster were born outside of Azerbaijan; several of them hailed from Eastern Europe, particularly from Russia and Ukraine. For the first time in history, Azerbaijan was not represented in the weightlifting, as the
International Weightlifting Federation
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), headquartered in Lausanne, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 192 Member Federations. The IWF President is Mohammed H ...
decided to strip of its quota places over "multiple positive cases" of doping.
The Azerbaijani roster featured 36 rookies and 20 returning Olympians. Of the returnees, nine of them won Olympic medals in London, including defending wrestling champions
Toghrul Asgarov and
Sharif Sharifov
Sharif Naidhajavovich Sharifov (russian: Шариф Наидгаджавович Шарифов, az, Шәриф Шәрифов, italics=no; born November 11, 1988 in Gunukh, Charodinsky District, Dagestan) is a Russian-Azerbaijani male wrestle ...
, freestyle wrestlers
Mariya Stadnik
Mariya Stadnik ( uk, Марія Василівна Стадник; Mariya Vasylivna Stadnyk; born 3 June 1988) is a Ukrainian-born Azerbaijani female wrestler. She is a four-time Olympic medalist.
Personal life
Stadnik was born on 3 June 1988 i ...
and
Yuliya Ratkevich
Yuliya Ratkevich ( be, Юлія Мікалаеўна Раткевіч; Łacinka: Julija Mikałajeŭna Ratkievič; born 16 July 1985) is a Belarusian-born Azerbaijani female wrestler. She is the 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in women's freestyle 5 ...
, four-time kayak sprint medalist
Inna Osypenko-Radomska
Inna Volodymyrivna Osypenko-Radomska ( uk, Інна Володимирівна Осипенко-Радомська, born 20 September 1982) is a Ukrainian-Azerbaijani sprint kayaker. Competing for Ukraine, she won four Olympic medals, including ...
, who represented her native Ukraine at four previous editions (2000 to 2012) before transferring her allegiance to Azerbaijan in 2014, and boxers
Magomedrasul Majidov
Mahommedrasul Majidov ( az, Məhəmmədrəsul Məcidov) (born 27 September 1986) is an Azerbaijani professional boxer. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and gold at the 2011, 2013 and 2017 World Championships, all in the s ...
(super heavyweight) and European Games champion
Teymur Mammadov
Teymur Mammadov (born 11 January 1993) is a heavyweight amateur boxer from Azerbaijan. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and reached quarterfinals at the 2016 Games, where he served as the flag bearer for Azerbaijan during the Parade of ...
(light heavyweight), who was selected by the committee to lead the delegation as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony.
Azerbaijan left Rio de Janeiro with a total of 18 medals (1 gold, 7 silver, and 10 bronze), signifying the nation's most successful Olympic outcome in its independent history. Nine of these medals were distributed to the Azerbaijani team in wrestling, three in taekwondo for the first time, and two each in boxing, sprint canoeing, and judo. Among the nation's medalists were Stadnik, who managed to repeat her silver from London; Osypenko-Radomska, who extended her career haul with a bronze medal and fifth overall, and taekwondo fighter
Radik Isayev
Radik Isayev (born September 26, 1989 in Ukhul, Akhtynsky District, Dagestan) is a Russian-born naturalized Azerbaijani taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Ko ...
(men's +80 kg), who secured Azerbaijan's only gold-medal triumph at the Games.
Medalists
, width=78% align=left valign=top ,
, width=22% align=left valign=top ,
Competitors
The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games:
Archery
One Azerbaijani archer has qualified for the women's individual recurve at the Olympics by securing one of three available Olympic spots at the 2016 European Championships in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, Great Britain, signifying the nation's Olympic debut in the sport.
Athletics
![Evans Kiplagat Barkowet Rio2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Evans_Kiplagat_Barkowet_Rio2016.jpg)
Azerbaijani athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
;Track & road events
;Field events
Boxing
Azerbaijan has entered eleven boxers to compete in the following weight classes into the Olympic boxing tournament. Parviz Baghirov was the only Azerbaijani boxer to be selected to the Olympic team with a top two finish of his respective division in the World Series of Boxing, while 2012 Olympian
Elvin Mamishzada
Elvin Mamishzada ( az, Elvin Məmişzadə, born December 17, 1991) is an Azerbaijani boxer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Men's flyweight, but was defeated in the first round by Nyambayaryn Tögstsogt of Mongolia. He also comp ...
and Russian import
Albert Selimov
Albert Shevketovich Selimov (; born 5 April 1986) is a Russian former amateur boxer of Lezgin descent. He is best known for being the only man to defeat Vasiliy Lomachenko in the amateur ranks. Competing for Russia he won the 2007 world title, ...
had secured their places at the
2015 World Championships.
Five further boxers (Chalabiyev, Sotomayor, Abdullayev, Majidov, and Alekseevna) had claimed their Olympic spots at the
2016 European Qualification Tournament in
Samsun
Samsun, historically known as Sampsounta ( gr, Σαμψούντα) and Amisos (Ancient Greek: Αμισός), is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and is a major Black Sea port. In 2021, Samsun reco ...
, Turkey. Meanwhile, Kamran Shakhsuvarly, Youth Olympic light flyweight champion Rufat Huseynov, London 2012 bronze medalist
Teymur Mammadov
Teymur Mammadov (born 11 January 1993) is a heavyweight amateur boxer from Azerbaijan. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and reached quarterfinals at the 2016 Games, where he served as the flag bearer for Azerbaijan during the Parade of ...
secured additional places on the Azerbaijani roster to complete the Olympic boxing lineup at the
2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
.
;Men
;Women
Canoeing
Slalom
Azerbaijani canoeists have qualified a maximum of one boat in each of the following classes through the
2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships.
Sprint
Azerbaijani canoeists has qualified one boat in each of the following events through the
2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Cycling
Road
Azerbaijan has qualified one rider in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of his top 200 individual ranking in the
2015 UCI Europe Tour
The 2015 UCI Europe Tour was the eleventh season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2015 season began on 29 January 2015 with the Vuelta a Mallorca, Trofeo Santanyí-Ses Salines-Campos and ended on 25 October 2015 with the Tour of Aegean.
The points le ...
. One additional spot was awarded to the Azerbaijani cyclist in the women's road race by virtue of her top 100 individual placement in the 2016 UCI World Rankings.
Track
Following the completion of the
2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships
The 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2016. They took place in London in the Lee Valley VeloPark from 2–6 March 2016.
As the last major track cycling event prior to the 2016 Summer Ol ...
, Azerbaijan has entered one rider to compete only in both women's sprint and keirin at the Olympics, by virtue of her final individual UCI Olympic rankings in those events.
;Sprint
;Keirin
Fencing
Azerbaijan has entered one fencer into the Olympic competition. 2012 Olympian
Sabina Mikina
Sabina Mikina ( az, Səbinə Mikina; born 24 October 1987 in Baku) is an Azerbaijani sabre fencer. Mikina represented Azerbaijan at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she competed in the women's individual sabre event. She defeated Hung ...
had claimed the sole Olympic spot as the winner of the women's sabre at the European Zonal Qualifier in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
.
Gymnastics
Artistic
![Oleg Stepko at the 2016 Summer Olympics](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Oleg_Stepko_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics.jpg)
Azerbaijan has entered one artistic gymnast into the Olympic competition. 2012 Olympian
Oleg Stepko
Oleg Stepko ( uk, Олег Степко, born 25 March 1994 in Zaporizhzhya) is a Ukrainian (until 2014), Azerbaijani (2014–2018) and Russian (since March 2018) gymnast.
Career
Oleg competed for the national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics ...
had claimed an Olympic spot in the men's apparatus and all-around events at the
2015 World Championships in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, while
Petro Pakhnyuk
Petro Pakhnyuk or Petro Pakhniuk ( uk, Петро Пахнюк; born 26 November 1991 in Kyiv) is a Ukrainian (until 2014 and after 2017) and Azerbaijani (2014-2017) male artistic gymnast and member of the national team.
Career
He participated ...
did so at the
Olympic Test Event in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
.
;Men
Rhythmic
Azerbaijan has qualified one rhythmic gymnast for the individual all-around by finishing in the top 15 at the
2015 World Championships in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Germany.
Judo
Azerbaijan has qualified a total of six judokas for each of the following weight classes at the Games by virtue of their top 22 national finish for men in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016.
Rowing
Azerbaijan has qualified one boat in the men's double sculls for the Olympics at the
2015 FISA World Championships.
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage
Shooting
Azerbaijan has received an invitation from ISSF to send Ruslan Lunev in both the men's air and rapid fire pistol to the Olympics, as long as the minimum qualifying score (MQS) was met by 31 March 2016.
Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify for the next round; q = Qualify for the bronze medal (shotgun)
Swimming
Azerbaijan has received a Universality invitation from
FINA
FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...
to send two swimmers (one male and one female) to the Olympics.
Taekwondo
![Taekwondo at the 2016 Summer Olympics - 80 kg 27](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Taekwondo_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_-_80_kg_27.jpg)
Azerbaijan entered a full squad of four athletes into the taekwondo competition at the Olympics.
Radik Isayev
Radik Isayev (born September 26, 1989 in Ukhul, Akhtynsky District, Dagestan) is a Russian-born naturalized Azerbaijani taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Ko ...
qualified automatically for the men's heavyweight category (+80 kg) by finishing in the top 6 WTF Olympic rankings. European Games medalists Milad Beigi, Patimat Abakarova, and 2012 Olympian
Farida Azizova
Farida Azizova (born 6 June 1995 in Qusar, Azerbaijan) is an Azerbaijani taekwondo practitioner. She competed in the 67 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was eliminated by Karine Sergerie in the preliminary round. She also ...
secured the remaining spots on the Azerbaijani team by virtue of their top two finish respectively in the men's welterweight (80 kg), women's flyweight (49 kg) and women's welterweight category (67 kg) at the
2016 European Qualification Tournament in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
, Turkey.
Triathlon
Azerbaijan has entered one triathlete to compete at the Games, signifying the nation's Olympic debut in the sport. Russian-born Rostyslav Pevtsov was ranked among the top 40 eligible triathletes in the men's event based on the ITU Olympic Qualification List as of 15 May 2016.
Wrestling
Azerbaijan has qualified a total of fourteen wrestlers for each of the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. Majority of Olympic berths were awarded to Azerbaijani wrestlers by virtue of their top six finish at the
2015 World Championships, while one of them had claimed an Olympic spot in men's freestyle 74 kg with a semifinal triumph at the
2016 European Qualification Tournament.
Two further wrestlers had claimed the remaining Olympic slots to round out the Azerbaijani roster in separate World Qualification Tournaments; one of them in men's freestyle 57 kg at the
initial
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
meet in
Ulaanbaatar
Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...
, while the other in men's Greco-Roman 66 kg at the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
meet in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
.
Haji Aliyev at the Rio 2016.jpg, Bronze medalist Haji Aliyev
Haji Aliyev ( az, Hacı Azər oğlu Əliyev; born 21 April 1991, in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan SSR) is an Azerbaijani freestyle wrestler. He competed at the 61 kg division in the 2014 European Wrestling Championships and won the gold medal af ...
Jabrayil Hasanov at the Summer Olympics 2016 awarding ceremony.jpg, Bronze medalist Jabrayil Hasanov
Jabrayil Hasanov ( az, Cəbrayıl Həsənov, born on 24 February 1990 in Suparibağ, Astara, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union) is a male freestyle wrestler from Azerbaijan who has competed in the 66, 74 and 79 kg categories. ...
2016 Summer Olympics, Men's Freestyle Wrestling 97 kg (Khetag Gazyumov and Reza Yazdani).jpg, Silver medalist Khetag Gazyumov
Khetag Gazyumov (also Gozyumov, os, Гозымты Русланы фырт Хетæг, ''Gozymty Ruslany fyrt Xetæg''; russian: Хетаг Русланович Гозюмов, ''Khetag Ruslanovich Gozyumov''; az, Xetaq Qazümov; born 24 April ...
(left) and Reza Yazdani
Reza Yazdani ( fa, رضا یزدانی, born August 25, 1984 in Juybar, Iran) nicknamed The Leopard of Juybar, is an Iranian wrestler and two time World Champion, who won Gold in the 2011 World Wrestling Championships and 2013 World Wrestlin ...
Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – 85 kg Men's Greco-Roman 3.jpg, Saman Tahmasebi
Saman Tahmasebi ( fa, سامان طهماسبی, born 26 July 1985) is a naturalized Azerbaijani wrestler who formerly represented his birthplace Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a ...
fought against Iran's Habibollah Akhlaghi
See also
*
Azerbaijan at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Azerbaijan competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Medalists
Delegation
The country sent a team of 25 athletes, 20 men and 5 women, along with 2 officials to the 2016 Summer Paralympics. ...
References
External links
*
{{Country at games navbox, Azerbaijan, Olympics
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
Nations at the 2016 Summer Olympics