The Most Famous
ATHLETES from Azerbaijan
This page contains a list of the greatest Azerbaijani Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 3,059 Athletes, 6 of which were born in Azerbaijan. This makes Azerbaijan the birth place of the 67th most number of Athletes behind Côte d'Ivoire and Thailand.
Top 6
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Azerbaijani Athletes of all time. This list of famous Azerbaijani Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Galina Bystrova (1934 - 1999)
With an HPI of 47.41, Galina Bystrova is the most famous Azerbaijani Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.
Galina Petrovna Bystrova (née Dolzhenkova; Russian: Галина Петровна Быстрова; 8 February 1934 – 11 October 1999) was a Soviet athlete. She competed in the 80 m hurdles at the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics with the best achievement of fourth place in 1956. In 1964 she also took part in the newly introduced pentathlon event and won a bronze medal. She also won three European titles, two in the pentathlon (1958 and 1962) and one in the hurdles (1958) and set three world records in these events. Domestically she won six national titles, in the pentathlon, hurdles and long jump. Bystrova was born to a Russian family in Azerbaijan, where her father served with the Soviet Border Guard. After his service ended, the family moved to Nizhny Novgorod, where Bystrova started training in gymnastics. In 1952 she met her future husband and athletics coach Vasily Bystrov, who convinced her to switch to athletics. After retiring from competitions, Bystrova worked as an athletics coach alongside her husband. Her last years were marred by osteoarthritis developed as a result of arduous training and by conflicts were her husband. She died aged 65.
2. Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili (1933 - )
With an HPI of 42.82, Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili is the 2nd most famous Azerbaijani Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Nadezhda Pavlovna Khnykina (Russian: Надежда Павловна Хныкина-Двалишвили; maiden name Nadezhda Pavlovna Dvalishvili, Georgian: ნადეჟდა დვალიშვილ-ხნიკინა; born June 24, 1933) is a former Soviet track and field athlete who competed mainly in the 200 metres and long jump.
3. Zemfira Meftahatdinova (1963 - )
With an HPI of 38.48, Zemfira Meftahatdinova is the 3rd most famous Azerbaijani Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Zemfira Aliyevna Meftahatdinova (Tatar: Зимфирә Гали кызы Мифтахетдинова, romanized: Zimfirä Ğäli qızı Miftaxetdineva, Azerbaijani: Zemfira Əli qızı Meftahətdinova, born 28 May 1963) is a retired Azerbaijani sport shooter who won two Olympic medals in skeet. Meftahatdinova is a police officer and sports teacher and speaks three languages. In November 2002, she received a scholarship from the Olympic Solidarity program. In 2015, she was appointed head of the Athletic Society of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
4. Ramil Guliyev (1990 - )
With an HPI of 33.43, Ramil Guliyev is the 4th most famous Azerbaijani Athlete. His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.
Ramil Guliyev (Azerbaijani: Ramil Eldar oğlu Quliyev; born 29 May 1990) is an Azerbaijani-born Turkish sprinter. He competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. At the 2017 World Championships, Guliyev became the World Champion in the 200 metres, winning Turkey's first ever gold medal in the World Championships. His club is Fenerbahçe Athletics. In 2018, he won the gold medal in the 200 metres at the European Championships.
5. Orkhan Safarov (1991 - )
With an HPI of 24.81, Orkhan Safarov is the 5th most famous Azerbaijani Athlete. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Orkhan Safarov (born 10 August 1991) is an Azerbaijani judoka. He won a bronze at the 2013 World Judo Championships in the –60 kg category. In 2021, Safarov competed in the men's 66 kg event at the 2021 Judo World Masters held in Doha, Qatar.
6. Nijat Rahimov (1993 - )
With an HPI of 22.08, Nijat Rahimov is the 6th most famous Azerbaijani Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.
Nijat Rahimov (Azerbaijani: Nicat Rəhimov; born 13 August 1993) is an Azerbaijani-born naturalized Kazakhstani weightlifter. He represented Kazakhstan at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in the category of 77 kg, he placed first, winning the gold medal and setting a new world record with a clean and jerk lift of 214 kilograms. In 2022, the medal was stripped and he was banned when it was revealed he substituted urine samples.
Pantheon has 6 people classified as athletes born between 1933 and 1993. Of these 6, 5 (83.33%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living athletes include Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili, Zemfira Meftahatdinova, and Ramil Guliyev. The most famous deceased athletes include Galina Bystrova. As of April 2022, 2 new athletes have been added to Pantheon including Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili and Orkhan Safarov.
Living Athletes
Go to all Rankings
Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili
1933 - Present
HPI: 42.82
Zemfira Meftahatdinova
1963 - Present
HPI: 38.48
Ramil Guliyev
1990 - Present
HPI: 33.43
Orkhan Safarov
1991 - Present
HPI: 24.81
Nijat Rahimov
1993 - Present
HPI: 22.08
