Azerbaijani judo athletes, or judokas, returned home Tuesday from the 2017 European Judo Championships, where athletes from 42 countries competed in the Japanese martial art.
Five Azerbaijani judokas claimed two gold and three bronze medals at the championship, which was held from April 20 – 23 at the Torwar Arena in Warsaw, Poland.
Hidayat Heydarov, competing in the 73 kg weight category, and Elkhan Mammadov in the 100 kg category, won gold medals. Orkhan Safarov (60 kg), Nijat Shikhalizade (66 kg) and Rustam Orujov (73 kg) took bronze.
Other Caspian region countries faired very well in the games. The Russian men’s team took home the silver medal. In individual categories, Russian judokas Robert Mshvidobadze (60 kg) and Alan Khubetsov (81 kg) clinched gold, while Musa Mogushkov (73 kg) won silver. Aslan Lappinagov (81 kg), Khusen Khalmurzaev (90 kg), Kirill Denisov and Kazbek Zankishiev (100 kg) all took bronze. Two Russian women, Irina Dolgova (48 kg) and Alesya Kuznetsova (52 kg), won silver in their respective categories.
The South Caucasus country of Georgia boasted the top men’s team and took home gold. Guram Tushishvili (100 kg) won gold in his individuals category, while Adam Okruashvili (100 kg) won silver and Beka Gviniashvili (90 kg) bronze.
The 2017 European Judo Championships in Warsaw brought together roughly 400 athletes, including 13 Rio Olympics medalists. This year’s event was the third time Poland played host to the European Judo Championships, after hosting it in Gdansk in 1994 and Wroclaw in 2000.
The 2018 championship will be held in Israel.
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