Pages from history

The establishment of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan

The National Olympic Committee was established at the all-republic conference held on January 14, 1992, and was registered at the Ministry of Justice on March 10 of the same year. When the Olympic Games started in Barcelona in 1992, the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan was not yet recognized by the International Olympic Committee. Therefore, only four athletes of Azerbaijan were able to participate in the Barcelona Games as part of the national team of the Commonwealth of Independent States created at that time. In September 1993, the International Olympic Committee introduced the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan at the General Assembly held in Monaco.

Azerbaijan performed for the first time at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with its national Olympic team consisting of 23 people under the tricolor flag of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan. In the competition, which was attended by 197 countries, the young Republic of Azerbaijan took 61st place.
Although the silver medal won by freestyle wrestler Namig Abdullayev in those competitions is considered as the first high result of sports of the independent Republic of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani sports fans and Azerbaijani athletes did not want to be satisfied only with participation in the Olympic Games. Everyone understood that the National Olympic Committee can and should do more in the international recognition of Azerbaijan. Therefore, the issue was seriously discussed at the next General Assembly of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) held on July 31, 1997, and the General Assembly, which did not accept such a situation, chose a new composition of the Executive Committee. In 1997, Ilham Aliyev was elected as the president of NOC. After that, our country was provided and represented at a high level in the Olympic games. Since 1998, the National Olympic Committee has been involved in ensuring the participation of athletes in competitions, holding training camps, popularizing sports, involving children and teenagers in sports, organizing international competitions in the republic, studying and promoting the Olympic Movement, Olympic ideals, and a number of other directions.

At the XXVII Summer Olympic Games held in Sydney, Australia in 2000, Azerbaijani athletes add a glorious page to  Olympic history.  Compared to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, more licenses were obtained.  In Sydney, our republic was represented by 31 athletes, our athletes were able to win three medals - two gold and one bronze medal.  Zemfira Meftahatdinova won a gold medal in archery and Namiq Abdullayev in freestyle wrestling and became Olympic champions under intense sports competition. Our young athlete Vugar Alakbarov won a bronze medal in boxing competitions. Azerbaijan was represented by 38 athletes at the XXVIII Summer Olympic Games held in Athens in 2004. Having won one gold and four bronze medals, our country took 37th place among 75 countries. Azerbaijani athlete Farid Mansurov received the title of Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Olympic athletes from 204 countries participated in the XXIX Olympic Games held in Beijing in 2008. Azerbaijan took 19th place in the 39th Europe with 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals in the overall team score.

Azerbaijan was represented by 53 athletes in 15 sports at the XXX Summer Olympic Games held in London in 2012. Azerbaijan won 10 medals - 2 gold, 2 silver, 6 bronze at the XXX Summer Olympic Games.

In 2016, Azerbaijan was represented by 56 athletes in 17 sports at the XXXI Summer Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Azerbaijan won 18 medals - 1 gold, 7 silver and 10 bronze at the XXXI Summer Olympic Games.

The XXXII Tokyo Summer Olympic Games were scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 8, 2020. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic that has taken over the world, the "Tokyo 2020" Summer Olympic Games started a grand opening ceremony on July 21, 2021. The Azerbaijan national team was represented by 44 athletes in Tokyo-2020.

In order to further expand the Olympic movement in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Azerbaijan National Olympic Committee in 2022, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on "Celebration of the 30th anniversary of the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan" on March 28, 2022.

The 1st European Games in 2015, the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in 2017 and the European Youth Olympic Festival in 2019  were  held for the commendable activity of the NOC in our country successfully. Several sports competitions were held in the liberated areas. International chess competitions in Shusha, international rowing competitions in Lake Sugovushan, triathlon competitions in Agali village of Zangilan.

Also, reworking of the project of the famous "Imarat" stadium in Aghdam and the project of creating an Olympic complex next to it, the construction of the Karabakh Equestrian Complex in Eyvazkhanbeyli village of Aghdam has been started.

Since 1997, by the order of the President Ilham Aliyev, about 50 Olympic Sports Complexes have been built in the capital Baku, as well as in different regions of the country, and the construction of these complexes is still ongoing.

Our President Ilham Aliyev, who set himself the goal of spreading the truth to the whole world by promoting our sport in general, is carrying out this work properly, and therefore the Republic of Azerbaijan has become one of the highly developed sports countries.


Recommended literature:

  1. Hüseynzadə, Çingiz. Azərbaycan Respublikasının Milli Olimpiya Komitəsi - 10 il = National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan - 20 years / Ç. Hüseynzadə, C. Rəhmanov ; layihənin rəh. İ. H. Əliyev ; tərc.: G. Rüstəmova, L. Mədətova, T. Cəfərov. - Bakı : [n. y.], 2002. - 438 s.
  2. Hüseynzadə, Çingiz. Azərbaycan Respublikasının Milli Olimpiya Komitəsi - 20 il = National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan - 20 years / Ç. Hüseynzadə, C. Rəhmanov ; tərc. L. C. Hüseynova ; fot. D. Nəcəfov [et al.]. - Bakı : n. y., 2012. - 454 s.
  3. İsayev, Xəzər Ağəli oğlu. Olimpiya tarixi. İdman siyasəti = История олимпийского движения. Спортивная политика = The History of Olimpic Movement. Sports Policy / X. A. İsayev ; tərc.: N. Kameristovna, N. İsmayılov ; red.: C. Abbasova, E. Səmədova ; Azərbaycan Respublikası Gənclər və İdman Nazirliyi. - Bakı : Azərbaycan nəşriyyatı, 2016. - 332 s.
  4. Aslanlı, Günel Mobil qızı. İlham Əliyev və Azərbaycanda idmanın tərəqqisi: 2003-2020 : monoqrafiya / G. M. Aslanlı ; ön sözün müəl., elmi red. Ə. Q. Qasımov ; AMEA A.A. Bakıxanov adına Tarix İnstitutu. - Bakı : İdeal-Print, 2021. - 180 s.