A grand sports event - the 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on September 16-22.

More than 300 gymnasts from 61 countries, who will perform both in the individual program and in the program of the group exercises, will take part in the event.

One of the participants of the World Championships, Azerbaijani gymnast Yelizaveta Luzan who will represent Azerbaijan in an individual program, spoke about preparation for the competitions.

According to her, the one thing she likes about rhythmic gymnastics is that she can express her emotions while moving to the sound of music.

"I have watched gymnasts on TV since my childhood. I really liked how girls perform, especially in exercises with a rope. I participated in many competitions and tournaments, both local and international, and won medals. In 2018, I reached the finals in ribbon exercises at the European Championships in Guadalajara (Spain) and came in 6th. In the same year, I won a gold medal in multi-team competitions at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (Argentina)," she said.

The gymnast noted that the preparations for the 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships are proceeding intensively.

"The preparations for the world championships are proceeding intensively, we are training hard,” she said. "Very often, almost every day, we have control trainings. I must fight first of all with myself, and not with rivals. A place in the individual standings isn’t important for me now, I will fight for the team standings. I really want to perform well and help the team.”

Speaking about which apparatus is more difficult to perform with, the athlete noted that each apparatus has its own difficulties.

"For example, a ribbon can get tangled, there are two clubs, and I need to watch them,” she added. "It’s more difficult for me with clubs.”

Just like most gymnasts, Luzan experiences excitement before the performance.

"The trainers prepare me for the performance, they help me to calm down,” she said. "I also try to be calm myself. Before the performance, I have to check everything, and during the performance, the main thing is to start. This is the most difficult for me, after that I’m calmer. It’s very pleasant when the audience supports me, and this has a positive effect on me.”

After 14 years, Azerbaijan will host one of the most significant events, the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, again.

Both individual gymnasts and teams in group exercises will do their best to be among the strongest ones in the Apparatus Finals and All-around within seven days, while the gymnasts will also be awarded for team competition.

The Championships are the qualification competition for the Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo in 2020. So, the first 16 individual gymnasts (max. 2 gymnasts per country) in the all-around ranking will qualify for the Games.

As for the gymnasts within group exercises, Bulgaria, Russia and Italy have already qualified according to the results of the last World Championships. At this year’s Championships, the best five teams will qualify for the Tokyo-2020 Olympic Games according to the all-around scores.