Sport in Azerbaijan has ancient roots, and even now, both traditional and modern sports are still practiced. Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally regarded as Azerbaijan's national sport, however today, the most popular sports in Azerbaijan are football and chess. Other popular sports are gymnastics, judo, futsal, weightlifting, and boxing. Azerbaijan's mountainous terrain provides great opportunities for the practice of sports like skiing and rock climbing. Water sports are practiced on the Caspian Sea and in inland waters. Competitively, Azerbaijan has been very successful at chess, weightlifting, and wrestling at the international level. Azerbaijan is also an active member of the international sports community, with full membership in the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), European Athletics Association (EAA), International Olympic Committee (IOC), among many others. It has also hosted the first European Games and 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games.
2015 in sports describes the year's events in world sport. This year, some sporting events listed below are qualifying ones, for athletes, to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. From July 2015 to May 2016, the venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics will be tested, by hosting various events in them.
Maja Buskbjerg Jager is a Danish recurve archer. A two-time competitor at the Olympic Games, Jager was the women's individual champion at the 2013 World Archery Championships, an achievement for which she was awarded the Danish Sports Name of the Year prize for 2013. She is also a multiple medalist at the European Games and the European Archery Championships.
Guendalina Sartori is an Italian archer. A gold medalist at the World Archery Championships, European Games and the Mediterranean Games, she competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics, finishing in fourth in the women's team event.
Mike Schloesser is a compound archer from the Netherlands. In 2015, he was the first person to hit a perfect 600/600, hence his nickname Mister Perfect. In December 2023 he surpassed Sara López as the longest-tenured world number one. Both had been in the top three since the beginning of the 2015 season. Schloesser had been holding the number one position in the world ranking since 24 May 2021. In March 2024 he broke the record for the longest consecutive days ranked number one.
Seda Gurgenovna Tutkhalyan is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2014 Youth Olympic Games Individual All-around champion and a 2016 Summer Olympics Team silver medalist.
The women's individual recurve competition at the 2015 European Games was held from 16 to 19 June 2015 at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan. One of five events comprising the inaugural European Games' archery programme, it featured a total of 62 archers from 30 different nations.
Mete Gazoz is a Turkish recurve archer. He won the gold medal in the men's individual event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He also represented Turkey at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 2023 World Archery Championships held in Berlin, Mete Gazoz emerged victorious, claiming the prestigious Individual title. In an intense final, he triumphed over the skilled Canadian archer Eric Peters, securing his place as the first Turkish archer to achieve the esteemed recurve gold medal in a World Championship.
Alicia Marín Martínez is a Spanish recurve archer.
Yasemin Ecem Anagöz is a Turkish recurve archer.
Veronika Serhiyivna Marchenko is a Ukrainian competitive archer. She has collected medals in major international competitions, spanning the World Indoor Championships, the European Games, and the European Championships.
Anastasiia Vladyslavivna Pavlova is a Ukrainian competitive archer. She has collected a career total of at least ten medals in major international competitions, spanning the World Indoor Championships, the European Games, the World Cup series, and the European Championships.
Georgia Coates is a British swimmer who won five medals at the 2015 European Games. She has been selected to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The women's individual recurve competition at the 2019 European Games was held from 21 to 26 June 2019 at the Olympic Sports Complex in Minsk, Belarus. It was the second time the event was held as part of the European Games archery programme. A total of 48 archers from 32 different nations entered the competition, with a maximum of three entries per country. The event offered one qualifying spot for the women's individual event at the 2020 Summer Olympics for any archer reaching the semi-finals from a nation that had not already qualified. The defending champion, Karina Winter of Germany, did not take part following her retirement from the sport.
Irina Zaretska is a Ukrainian and Azerbaijani karateka. She won the silver medal in the women's +61 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She is a three-time gold medalist in the women's 68 kg event at the World Karate Championships. Zaretska is also a two-time gold medalist in this event at the Islamic Solidarity Games and the European Games.
Alisa Theresa Buchinger is an Austrian karateka. She won the gold medal in the women's kumite 68 kg at the 2016 World Karate Championships in Linz, Austria. She is also a two-time gold medalist in this event at the European Karate Championships, both in 2015 and in 2017.
Michelle Kroppen is a German archer. She competed in the women's individual event, and women's team, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal.
Tanja Gellenthien is a Danish archer competing in women's compound events. She won the gold medal in the women's individual compound event at the 2021 European Archery Championships held in Antalya, Turkey.
Ella Gibson is a British archer competing in compound events. She won the gold medal in the women's compound event at the 2022 European Indoor Archery Championships held in Laško, Slovenia. She also won the gold medal in the women's compound event at the 2022 World Games held in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.
Lisell Jäätma is an Estonian archer competing in compound events.
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