Balabay Aghayev

Balabay Azer oglu Aghayev (; born 30 September 1998) is an Azerbaijani judoka, silver medalist of the 2024 European Judo Championships, member of the Azerbaijan national judo team. He is also a silver medalist at the 2018 World Juniors Championships, a three-time Grand Slam gold medalist), the champion of the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games and the 2021 Azerbaijan national champion. Aghayev represented Azerbaijan at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Biography Balabay Aghayev was born on 30 September 1998 in Baku. He studied at the Azerbaijan State Academy of Physical Education and Sport.

In October 2018, he won a silver medal at the Junior World Championship in Nassau. That same year, he won the European Cup for juniors under 21 in Lignano. In October 2021, he won the gold medal at the Paris Grand Slam. In December 2021, representing the Neftchi Sports Club, he won the Azerbaijan National Championship.

In January 2022, Aghayev won silver at the Almada Grand Prix. In April 2022, he placed fifth at the European Championships in Sofia, losing the bronze medal match to Jorre Verstraeten of Belgium. That summer, at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, he won gold in the under 60 kg category and in the men's team event. In October 2022, he won bronze at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, and in November secured a gold medal at the Baku Grand Slam. In December, he earned a bronze medal at the World Masters.

In February 2023, Aghayev claimed another gold medal at the Paris Grand Slam. In November, at the European Championships in Montpellier, he lost his first match to Andrea Carlino of Italy. In 2024, he won bronze at the Baku Grand Slam and at the Tbilisi Grand Slam.

As of March 2024, he ranked 7th in the world rankings.

In April 2024, Aghayev won silver at the European Championships in Zagreb, losing in the final to reigning world champion Francisco Garrigós of Spain. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Aghayev was eliminated in the round of 16, losing to Kim Won-jin of South Korea.

On 29 November 2024, he secured a bronze medal at the Azerbaijan Judo Championship.

His personal coach is Shumshad Bakhramov.

In June 2026, Balabay Agayev defeated Ryuju Nagayama in the final at the Grand Slam tournament in Ulaanbaatar and won the gold medal.

In August 2026, at an international tournament in Kraków, he defeated all opponents and won the gold medal.