Azerbaijan’s Greco-Roman wrestler Gurban Gurbanov expressed his gratitude and joy after becoming European champion at the European Wrestling Championships held in Bratislava, Slovakia.

“Our national Greco-Roman wrestling team has become European champions. I want to thank everyone who contributed to this success — my personal coach Turac Huseynli, the national team coaches, the leadership of the Azerbaijan Wrestling Federation, as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Congratulations to the entire sporting community of Azerbaijan,” he told Offsideplus.az.

The 23-year-old athlete dominated the 82 kg weight category, defeating all of his opponents on the way to the gold medal. Qurbanov emphasized that reaching the top of the podium was anything but easy:

“It looks easy from the outside. But wrestling has advanced a lot across Europe. Everyone knows how to wrestle now. Winning here is very difficult — it requires team spirit and determination. Thank God we were able to show our strength. This was my first European Championship at the senior level, and I won gold! God willing, we’ll achieve even greater results in the future.”

In the final match, Gurbanov convincingly defeated Hungary’s Erik Szilvassi with a score of 6–0, claiming the top spot on the podium.