NAME: HIDAYAT HEYDAROV
COUNTRY: AZERBAIJAN
CATEGORY: -73KG
WORLD RANKING POINTS: 8004
2024 was the year for Heydarov, kick starting with a European Championship win in Zagreb, he followed up by taking the World Championship title in Abu Dhabi a mere month later. With the ultimate goal of becoming Olympic Champion, some thought that maybe he had peaked too early and would struggle to continue on his road to glory, but he proved the naysayers wrong and in the heart of Paris, with the iconic Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, he topped the Olympic podium.
It hasn’t been an easy road for Heydarov, who garnered attention with early success as a junior. As he stepped on the senior circuit he was overshadowed by his team mate, Olympic silver medallist, Rustam ORUJOV. The younger attempted to qualify in another category for the Tokyo Olympic Games but it wasn’t to be, and following this difficult Covid 19 cycle, he returned to the -73kg category.
This time he was joined by the 2008 Olympic Champion of the same category, Elnur MAMMADLI, who put all of his efforts in to supporting and creating the champion that we now see today. It seems with this mentorship, Heydarov has accomplished all he could set out to, and to get such a hat-trick in the space of three months is something we may never see again.
2024 was one of the best years in the history of Azerbaijan Judo and of course for me as well. I became Champion of three main events; Europeans, Worlds and the Olympic Games. So ending the year with this story feels indescribably great. As everybody knows, reaching the top is difficult, but staying there is more difficult, so I hope at the end of 2025, I can ‘copy and paste’ this same message!
I wish everyone a lot of success, a healthy long life and a fresh start, happy new year!
Author: Thea Cowen