15:00, 1 March 2010

Experts doubt whether Azerbaijanis should take part in Winter Olympics

The two athletes who represented Azerbaijan were highly unsuccessfully at the 21st Winter Olympic Games, which were recently closed in Vancouver.

Sedrik Nots, 35, a native of Switzerland, could not even finish his special slalom race, and in the giant slalom was 79th, one of the last to qualify. Gaye Bassani-Antivari, 31, a native of Italy, was 57th among 60 who finished in the same event.

The miserable performance of these two under the flag of Azerbaijan gave rise to criticism from sports experts. Local media doubt the expediency of Azerbaijan's participation in winter games in general.

However, in the opinion of Ziya Medzhidli, sports observer of Azeri Service of Radio Liberty, "participation in Winter Olympics is a must in any case." He asserts that even at absence of own winter sports bases, local athletes can be trained by using the infrastructure of neighbouring countries.

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent