Gymnastics in Azerbaijan
Gymnastics is a popular sport in Azerbaijan.
History
Gymnastics was introduced to Azerbaijan in the Soviet period when Azerbaijani gymnast Lina Vinnikova participated in the 1961 world tournament in Germany.Aside from artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics started to develop in Azerbaijan after the 1984 Summer Olympics. Rhythmic gymnastics was particularly boosted after Mehriban Aliyeva become President of the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation in 2002.
Azerbaijan has produced many notable and talented gymnasts including Valery Belenky, Aliya Garayeva, Anna Gurbanova, Dinara Gimatova and hosted big competitions like the 2005 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, 2007 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, 2009 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships and 2014 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships. As of November 2013, Yulia Inshina and Anna Pavlova will be representing Azerbaijan.
In 2015, the National Gymnastics Arena was built in Azerbaijan.
Events
The first sporting championship in 5 disciplines of gymnastics – the Joint Gymnastics Championships in Azerbaijan – was organized in August 2014. In December 2014, an Inter-regional Cup was conducted in the framework of Azerbaijan and Baku Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship. In March 2015, the Open Joint Azerbaijan Championship in Gymnastics was organized as a test event before Baku 2015.Azerbaijan hosted several international championships in gymnastics:
| Competitions | Date |
| World Cup series in Rhythmic Gymnastics | August 2003 |
| World Cup series in Rhythmic Gymnastics | April 2004 |
| The World Cup A series in Rhythmic Gymnastics | May 2005 |
| The 27th World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship | October 2005 |
| The 23rd European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship | June–July 2007 |
| 25th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships | May 2009 |
| 30th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships | June 2014 |
| FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup AGF Trophy | February 2016 |
| FIG World Trampoline Gymnastics Cup AGF Trophy | March 2016 |
| The FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup AGF Trophy | July 2016 |
| FIG Trampoline Gymnastics and Tumbling World Cup AGF Trophy | February 2017 |
| FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup AGF Trophy | March 2017 |
| FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup series AGF Trophy | April 2017 |
| FIG Artistic Gymnastics Individual Apparatus World Cup AGF Trophy | March 2018 |
| 26th European Championships in Trampoline, Tumbling and Double Mini-Trampoline | April 2018 |
| FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup, AGF Trophy | April 2018 |
| FIG Acrobatic Gymnastics World Cup, AGF Trophy | November 2018 |
| FIG World Cup in Trampoline Gymnastics and Tumbling, AGF Trophy 2019 | February 2019 |
| FIG Artistic Gymnastics Individual Apparatus World Cup, AGF Trophy 2019 | March 2019 |
| FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup, AGF Trophy 2019 | April 2019 |
| 35th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships | May 2019 |
| The 11th European Aerobic Gymnastics Championships | May 2019 |
| FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships | September 2019 |