ILHAM ZAKIYEV
Para-Judo
«I was born in the city of Sumgait on March 3. I have four brothers and one sister, I was the youngest boy in the family. I got married in 2005. I attended school, No.5 in Sumgait in from 1987-1997. Like me, my elder brother was a Karabakh war veteran and disabled. His leg was wounded at war and he died from a heart attack in 2012. In 1991-1992, I was persuaded by my other brother, Fikret, to start wrestling. I trained at freestyle wrestling for three to four years. Then my coach emigrated and I gave up wrestling. Soon after I went on to do judo at the Mekhdi Huseinzadeh stadium in Sumgait. It wasn`t long before I was succeeding at city and republican level competitions and won the Cup of Azerbaijan».