Farida Azizova: After sports, I will go to serve in the army or the police.

In women's taekwondo, she competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Azizova's personal trainer is Sabuhi Zulfugarov. Farida Azizova is a member of the Sports Society of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan ("Dinamo") and a master of sports of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 2015 for high achievements at the I European Games, as well as for her merits in the development of Azerbaijani sports, she was awarded the Progress medal by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan.

Apart from sports activities Farida Azizova takes an active part in promoting the fight against gender inequality in sports, and also participates in campaigns to help sick children.

Farida Azizova was born on June 6, 1995 in the city of Gusar, Gusar region of Azerbaijan. She has two brothers. In 2000, Azizova began to go to school number 2 in the city of Gusar. In the 9th grade she graduated from school and entered the Guba State Socio-Economic College, and after (azerb.) .

Since 2003, Farida Azizova has been practicing taekwondo. So, in childhood, Azizova had problems with her legs and doctors advised the girl to play sports where her legs would be trained mainly, such as football, running, taekwondo. At that time, taekwondo was a new phenomenon in Gusar and interesting for Farida. Azizova fell in love with taekwondo and decided to continue practicing this sport, starting training on October 5, 2003. A few months later, in 2004, Azizova took her first medal in taekwondo, becoming bronze medalist youth championship Azerbaijan.

In 2007, at the European Youth Championship in Budapest, Azizova takes bronze, and a year later, bronze at the World Youth Championship in Izmir. In May 2009, Azizova became the bronze medalist of the European Youth Championship in Trelleborg, and in June of the same year - the winner of the European Youth Championship in Zagreb, defeating Russian Maria Mavrina in the final. Azizova became the first girl from Azerbaijan to win this tournament. A month later, in Seoul, Azizova took the bronze medal at the Youth World Championships.

In August 2010, Farida Azizova won the open championship of the Republic of Korea and was awarded the title of "The Strongest Taekwondo Player of the Championship". Azizova's coach then was Kamran Garibov, head of the taekwondo department of the Gusar region.

In May 2011, Azizova, in her incomplete 16 years, takes part in her debut world championship in the Chinese city of Gyeongju (weight category over 73 kg), but loses her first fight in the 1/16 finals of Evgenia Karimova (English) from Uzbekistan and is eliminated from the tournament. Also this year, Azizova wins the Russian Open Championship in Chelyabinsk and the Croatian Open Championship in Zagreb. In 2012 he becomes a silver medalist open championship USA in Las Vegas. In the same year, Farida Azizova wins youth championship world in Sharm el-Sheikh, defeating Eileen Akdeniz from the Netherlands in the final. In May of the same year, he participates in the European Championship in Manchester, where he wins in the 1/16 finals against Elizaveta Buryak from Ukraine, but in the next round he loses to Petra Matyashevich from Croatia.

In 2012, 17-year-old Azizova represented Azerbaijan at the 2012 London Olympics in the 67 kg category, for which she obtained her license by finishing second at the 2011 international qualifying tournament in Baku. This was the second license for the 2012 Olympics won by Azerbaijani athletes. In addition, Azizova became the first taekwondo player in the history of Azerbaijan to represent the country at the Olympics in women's taekwondo. The coach of the women's national team of the country, Park Sun Mi, explained Azizova's success in the tournament by the fact that she faithfully performed all her tasks.

Azizova began her performance at the games from the preliminary stage, where she met with the silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics and the 2007 world champion Karine Sergeri (English) from Canada, which she had already won in the quarterfinals of the qualifying tournament in Baku. Azizova finished the first two rounds with a score of 0:0, but in the third she missed a blow from her opponent and was defeated with a score of 0:1. Due to Sergerie losing in the next round and not advancing to the final, Azizova forfeited her chance to compete for bronze.

In 2013, Farida Azizova becomes the winner of such tournaments as the Alexandria Open, held in Alexandria and the European Junior Championship in Chisinau, defeating the 2010 European champion Abi Nyar in the final (English) from France. According to Azizova herself, at that tournament she suffered from a hernia and entered the dayang under the influence of three painkiller injections. In addition, Azizova becomes the bronze medalist of the German Open tournament held in Hamburg and the World Championship in the Mexican city of Puebla. Azizova began her performance at the World Championships with a victory over Lairempuyu Fanai from India, then she defeated Dayana Perisic from Serbia, and then the Chinese Yun Guo. Having lost in the semi - final to Chia Chia Chuang from Taiwan , Azizova won the bronze medal . However, due to a serious injury, Azizova was forced to miss the III Islamic Solidarity Games.

In 2014, Azizova won the Luxor Open tournament, held in the city of Luxor, became the silver medalist of the Bahrain Open tournaments in Manama and the Russian Open in Moscow, as well as the bronze medalist of the Grand Prix tournaments in Suzhou, Ukraine Open in Kharkov, Grand Prix in Manchester, as well as the European Championship held in Baku. By the end of the year, Azizova, with 161 points, occupied the 6th position in the Olympic ranking of the World Taekwondo Federation, having risen by 3 lines compared to March.

In 2015, Farida Azizova won the Moldova Open tournament in Chisinau, became the silver medalist of the Ukraine Open in Kharkov and the bronze medalist of the Grand Prix and Russian Open tournaments, which were held in Moscow. Azizova also took part in the World Championships in Chelyabinsk in May of this year, where she lost to Catherine Portasio from Colombia in 1/8.

In June 2015, Azizova represented Azerbaijan at the 1st European Games held in Baku. In the 1/8 finals, Azizova won Joyce Van Baaren from the Netherlands, and in the quarterfinals she defeated the 2012 European champion Nur Tatar from Turkey and advanced to the semifinals. At this stage, Azizova defeated the Swedish taekwondo player Elin Johansson. However, in the final duel, Farida Azizova lost to Anastasia Baryshnikova from Russia with a score of 5:6. Azizova explained her defeat in the final by the fact that she made a mistake at the moment of striking, as a result she could not defend herself, allowing her opponent to take a point. Azizova 's further efforts did not help her avoid defeat . For high achievements at the 1st European Games, as well as for merits in the development of Azerbaijani sports, Farida Azizova was awarded the Progress medal by decree of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated June 29, 2015. At the end of the year, Azizova won the Azerbaijan Championship in the 67 kg category.

In January 2016, Farida Azizova won the European qualifying tournament held in Istanbul (English), defeating Rabia Gülech from Germany in the final, and won a ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. At the Games themselves, which were the second for Azizova in her career, she first defeated the bronze medalist of the London Olympics Paige MacPherson from the USA (6:5), and in the quarterfinals - Nigora Tursunkulova from Uzbekistan (5:1). In the semi-finals, Farida Azizova lost to the future champion Hye-Ri Oh from South Korea with a score of 5:6, and in the bronze medal match she was defeated by Christel Gwagbi from Côte d'Ivoire (1:7), finishing fifth. After the Olympics, Farida Azizova rested for a month, after which she continued training. The result of the performance disappointed Azizova. She later stated in an interview that despite her disappointment, she was able to cope with it, analyzed the mistakes, and will try not to make them in the future. Azizova also noted that after the Olympics she became stronger in many things, that she no longer loses heart when she loses points to her opponent, and that she does not pay attention to erroneous refereeing decisions.

Also, 2016 was remembered by Azizova with a victory at the Fujairah Open tournament in Fujairah and a silver medal at the Luxembourg Open tournament. In addition, Azizova performed at the European Championships in the Swiss city of Montreux, where she managed to reach the quarterfinals, but lost to the Turkish athlete Nur Tatar. In addition, in April 2016 Azizova for outstanding sports achivments and a special contribution to the Dynamo movement, by the decision of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Dynamo society, she was awarded the Honorary Gold Medal of the society. At the end of 2016, due to an injury, Azizova was forced to miss the World Grand Prix final and the World Team Championship, which were held in Baku.

According to Azizova, as a child she was a naughty child, had many friends among boys, played either football or "shooters", and she did not have many girlfriends. When, at the age of 10, Azizova began to dress like a boy, her parents did not tell her anything, then they asked why she dresses like that, to which Azizova replied that she was so comfortable because of sports.

Azizova shares many of her training photos on Instagram. According to her, some, not paying attention to her name, think that she is a guy or that she entered the social network under a female name.

Farida Azizova's hobby is drawing. According to her, drawing calms her nerves and distracts her from thoughts about sports. Azizova says about this hobby of hers:

According to Azizova, she is a romantic at heart, but most of all she loves her paintings on a military theme, which she explains by the fact that in the future she wants to become a soldier or work in the police, serve her country after sports.

Heroes Olympic Games for Farida Azizova are Azerbaijani taekwondo athletes who represented their country at the Olympic Games - Rashad Ahmedov and Niyameddin Pashayev, the National Assembly of Youth Organizations of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan are the representatives of the campaign to raise awareness of the issue of gender inequality in sports.

Farida Azizova herself, in her own words, was also a victim of gender inequality. When she is with early years began to practice taekwondo, her mother, Fazil Azizova, was against and under psychological pressure from relatives who said that Farida did not need sports, that she was a girl, she should study, and when she grew up, get married, demanded that Farida quit sports. Farida says that she understands her relatives, because the sport she does is difficult and there are often injuries (Farida has been operated on several times), understands that they are worried about her health, and listens to the opinions of her elders, but loves taekwondo and therefore did not leave him . According to Farida Azizova to the BBC Azerbaijani Service, there are very few female athletes in Azerbaijani society, as many parents are opposed to girls playing sports professionally, which Azizova attributes to mentality. Azizova often communicates through social networks with girls whose parents are opposed to them playing sports. But at the same time, Azizova is against girls disobeying their parents, and advises girls to talk to them and get their consent, and Azizova advises parents to listen to the opinions of their daughters and help them find their way if they see him in sports.

In November 2016, Azizova took part in the Taekwondo Day event organized by the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan. In February 2017, a video was shot about Farida Azizova as part of the Youth for a Better Future campaign, where the athlete spoke out against gender inequality in society.

In addition, Farida Azizova takes an active part in campaigns to help sick children. In September 2016, she issued a statement in support of 4-year-old Seljan Muradzade, who suffers from leukemia. In June 2017, she took part in celebratory event for children in the Rehabilitation Center suffering from

Early years. Early career Farida Azizova was born on June 6, 1995 in the city of Gusar, Gusar region of Azerbaijan. She has two brothers.

In 2000, Azizova began to go to school number 2 in the city of Gusar.

She graduated from high school in the 9th grade and entered the Guba State Socio-Economic College, and then - the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Culture and Sports (Azerbaijan) Russian.

Since 2003, Farida Azizova has been practicing taekwondo. So, in childhood, Azizova had problems with her legs and doctors advised the girl to play sports where her legs would be trained mainly, such as football, running, taekwondo.

At that time, taekwondo was a new phenomenon in Gusar and interesting for Farida. Azizova fell in love with taekwondo and decided to continue practicing this sport, starting training on October 5, 2003. A few months later, in 2004, Azizova took her first medal in taekwondo, becoming the bronze medalist of the youth championship of Azerbaijan.

In 2007, at the European Youth Championship in Budapest, Azizova took bronze, and a year later, bronze at the World Youth Championship in Izmir.

In May 2009, Azizova became the bronze medalist of the European Youth Championship in Trelleborg, and in June of the same year, the winner of the European Youth Championship in Zagreb, defeating Russian Maria Mavrina in the final. Azizova became the first girl from Azerbaijan to win this tournament. A month later, in Seoul, Azizova took the bronze medal of the Youth World Championship. 2010-2014 In August 2010, Farida Azizova won the open championship of the Republic of Korea and was awarded the title of "Strongest Taekwondo Championship". Azizova's coach then was the head of the taekwondo department of the Gusar district Kamran Garibov.F. Azizova as part of the Azerbaijani national team before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games In May 2011, Azizova, in her incomplete 16 years, takes part in her debut world championship in the Chinese city of Gyeongju (weight category over 73 kg), but loses her first fight in the 1/16 finals Evgenia Karimova (English) Russian from Uzbekistan and is eliminated from the tournament. Also this year, Azizova wins the Russian Open Championship in Chelyabinsk and the Croatian Open Championship in Zagreb.

In 2012, he became the silver medalist of the US Open in Las Vegas.

In the same year, Farida Azizova wins the World Youth Championship in Sharm el-Sheikh, defeating Aileen Akdeniz from the Netherlands in the final.

In May of the same year, he participates in the European Championship in Manchester, where he wins in the 1/16 finals against Elizaveta Buryak from Ukraine, but in the next round he loses to Petra Matyashevich from Croatia.

In 2012, 17-year-old Azizova represented Azerbaijan at the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the 67 kg category, for which she received a license by taking second place in the 2011 international qualifying tournament in Baku.

This was the second license for the 2012 Olympics won by Azerbaijani athletes. In addition, Azizova became the first taekwondo player in the history of Azerbaijan to represent the country at the Olympics in women's taekwondo. The coach of the women's national team Park Sung Mi explained Azizova's success in the tournament by the fact that she faithfully performed all her tasks. Azizova with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Gusar, December 2013 Azizova began her performance at the games from the preliminary stage, where she met with the silver medalist of the Beijing Olympics and the 2007 world champion Karine Sergeri (English) Russian. from Canada, which she had already won in the quarterfinals of the qualifying tournament in Baku. Azizova finished the first two rounds with a score of 0: 0, but in the third she missed a blow from her opponent and was defeated with a score of 0: 1. Due to the fact that Sergeri lost in the next round and did not qualify for the final, Azizova lost her chance to compete for bronze .

In 2013, Farida Azizova becomes the winner of such tournaments as the Alexandria Open, held in Alexandria and the European Junior Championships in Chisinau, defeating the 2010 European champion Abi Nyar in the final. from France. According to Azizova herself, at that tournament she suffered from a hernia and entered the dayang under the influence of three painkiller injections. In addition, Azizova becomes the bronze medalist of the German Open tournament held in Hamburg and the World Championship in the Mexican city of Puebla. Azizova began her performance at the World Championships with a victory over Lairempuyu Fanai from India, then she defeated Dayana Perisic from Serbia, and then the Chinese Yun Guo. After losing in the semi-finals to Chia Chia Chuang from Taiwan, Azizova won the bronze medal. However, due to a serious injury, Azizova was forced to miss the III Islamic Solidarity Games.

At the end of 2013, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, for his contribution to the development of sports in Azerbaijan, presented Farida Azizova with an order for a new apartment, as well as a certificate of honor from the National Olympic Committee. 2014-2018 winner of the Bahrain Open tournaments in Manama and the Russian Open in Moscow, as well as the bronze medalist of the Grand Prix tournaments in Suzhou, Ukraine Open in Kharkov, Grand Prix in Manchester, as well as the European Championship held in Baku.

By the end of the year, Azizova, with 161 points, occupied the 6th position in the Olympic ranking of the World Taekwondo Federation, having risen by 3 lines compared to March.F. Azizova in the final match of the 1st European Games. Baku, June 18, 2015 In 2015, Farida Azizova won the Moldova Open tournament in Chisinau, became the silver medalist of the Ukraine Open in Kharkov and the bronze medalist of the Grand Prix and Russian Open tournaments, which were held in Moscow. Azizova also took part in the World Championships in Chelyabinsk in May of this year, where she lost to Catherine Portasio from Colombia in 1/8.

In June 2015, Azizova represented Azerbaijan at the 1st European Games held in Baku.

In the 1/8 finals, Azizova won Joyce Van Baaren from the Netherlands, and in the quarterfinals she defeated the 2012 European champion Nur Tatar from Turkey and advanced to the semifinals.

At this stage, Azizova defeated the Swedish taekwondo player Elin Johansson. However, in the final match, Farida Azizova lost to Anastasia Baryshnikova from Russia with a score of 5: 6. Azizova explained her defeat in the final by making a mistake at the moment of striking, as a result, she could not defend herself, allowing her opponent to take a point. Azizova's further efforts did not help her avoid defeat. For high achievements at the I European Games, as well as for merits in the development of Azerbaijani sports, Farida Azizova was awarded the Progress medal by decree of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated June 29, 2015.

At the end of the year, Azizova won the Azerbaijan Championship in the 67 kg category.

In January 2016, Farida Azizova won the European qualifying tournament(English) Russian, defeating Rabia Gülech from Germany in the final, and won a ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

At the Games themselves, which were the second for Azizova in her career, she first defeated the bronze medalist of the London Olympics Paige Macpherson from the USA (6: 5), and in the quarterfinals - Nigora Tursunkulova from Uzbekistan (5: 1).

In the semi-finals, Farida Azizova lost to the future champion Hye-Ri Oh from South Korea with a score of 5: 6, and in the duel for bronze she was defeated by Christel Gwagbi from Côte d'Ivoire (1: 7), finishing fifth. After the Olympics, Farida Azizova rested for a month, after which she continued training. The result of the performance disappointed Azizova. Later she stated in an interview that despite the disappointment she was able to cope with this, analyzed the mistakes, and will try not to make them in the future.Azizova also noted that after the Olympics she became stronger in many things, that she no longer loses heart when she loses points to her opponent, and that he does not pay attention to erroneous judicial decisions. After the end of the IV Islamic Solidarity Games, 2017. From right to left: In the second row: taekwondoists P. S. Abakarova and Farida Azizova, personal coach the last Sabuhi Zulfugarov.

Front row: film producer A. Aliyeva (Azerb.) Russian, Vice-President of the Federation weightlifting A. Aliyev (Azerb.) Russian and taekwondo player A. Taghizade Also in 2016, Azizova was remembered for his victory at the Fujairah Open tournament in Fujairah and the silver medal at the Luxembourg Open tournament. In addition, Azizova performed at the European Championships in the Swiss city of Montreux, where she managed to reach the quarterfinals, but lost to the Turkish athlete Nur Tatar. In addition, in April 2016, Azizova was awarded the Honorary Gold Medal of the society by the decision of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Dynamo society for outstanding sports achievements and a special contribution to the Dynamo movement.

At the end of 2016, due to an injury, Azizova was forced to miss the World Grand Prix final and the World Team Championship, which were held in Baku.

At the IV Islamic Solidarity Games, which were held in May 2017 in Baku, Farida Azizova weight category 67 kg reached the final, where she lost to Nur Tatar from Turkey with a score of 2: 8 and took the silver medal.

In her interview, Azizova stated that with full strength she was prevented from fighting by an injury received in the first fight. Also in 2017, Azizova won the Dutch Open tournament, which was held in Eindhoven, and won bronze at the President's Cup of the World Taekwondo Federation in Athens.

In 2017, Azizova performed at the World Championships in Muju, where she lost to Korean Kim Jang Di in the quarterfinals, and at the World Summer Universiade in Taipei, where she lost her second fight.

By March 2018, Azizova, with 192 points, occupied the 11th position in the Olympic ranking of the World Taekwondo Federation.

In May, she took part in the European Championship in Kazan, where she managed to reach only the quarterfinals.

And National Olympic Committee(NOK) The AP continue their joint project called "Olympians Out of Sport". As part of the project, famous athletes talk about their Everyday life, non-sport activities, hobbies and hobbies.

The next guest of the project was Farida Azizova, participant of the last summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, member of the Azerbaijani national taekwondo team.

- Farida, did you manage to relax after Rio 2016?

Yes, after the Olympics, I had a little rest, because before and during the competition, the athlete gets very tired. If there are no tournaments after the Olympics, then it is better for an athlete to have a little rest. During sports competitions the athlete gets tired both psychologically and physically. I rested for a month, gained energy, and then continued training.

- How do you prefer to relax?

I prefer leisure. However, if the athlete is very tired, then you can spend two or three days in passive rest, but no more. A passive lifestyle can negatively affect sports career. Subsequently, the athlete may experience difficulties, including psychological ones, which in the end can lead to the fact that the person leaves the sport altogether. Given all this, I prefer active recreation.

At the same time, I try to connect my rest with other sports - I ride a bike, play billiards and bowling. I love taking photos. I also really like films about secret agents.

- Do you have a certain daily routine?

It does not matter what time the athlete gets up - he should try not to waste time in vain. For an active start to the day, I take a warm shower in the morning. This helps keep you energized throughout the day. And in the evening I take a hot shower - it helps to relieve fatigue and fall asleep peacefully.

- What about food? What is included in your daily diet?

Before the competition, I, like many professional athletes There are certain dietary restrictions. But when I'm on vacation, I eat whatever I want. True, at the same time I add a few kilograms, but as soon as I start training, the weight gained is quickly dropped. This takes a couple of weeks. As for my diet, I do not eat high-calorie foods after eight in the evening. If I get hungry at night, I am content with yoghurts and fruits.

As a rule, a hobby for a person is a means to realize their emotions. Can your hobby - drawing - be called another means of self-expression?

I draw what I think about. Many of my works are related to sports in one way or another, or I simply transfer everything that I saw during the day onto a piece of paper.

However, your drawings say that, despite the external strength and self-confidence, a very romantic nature lies inside you.

Yes, I'm a romantic at heart, and I can't hide it. I think a romantic lives in the soul of every person. But most of all I love my paintings on a military theme, because in the future I want to become a soldier or work in the police. In a word, after sports I want to serve my country.

- A person with a romantic soul in life is soft and delicate. Does your nature affect the course of your fights?

I don't mix my life with work. Life has its own laws, sport has its own. In life I am a calm person, but in battle I try to be aggressive. I respect my opponents and try to win a clear victory.