"Such complex competitions are important for athletes. Because they live in a separate place – The Athletes Village (AVL). Acquaintance with such an environment, being in a team is a great experience for our youths. We believe that they will benefit from this experience in the future too," Minister of Youth and Sports Azad Rahimov said while speaking about the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) underway in Baku.
The minister also spoke about his expectations from Azerbaijani athletes: "We lay hopes on some kinds of sport and, as always, we expect many medals. We’d very much like to earn medals in many kinds of sport and get them in 4-5 types. However, we rank second for the quality and quantity of medals two days before the end. We would like to see Azerbaijan among top five medalists."
Currently, Azerbaijan ranks 2nd with 9 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals. Russia heads the list with 18 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals.