 Aghayev qualified for his adopted Azerbaijan squad in the men's heavyweight class (96 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, by placing third and receiving a berth from the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bratislava, Slovakia.In the prelim pool, Aghayev eclipsed Kazakhstan's Islam Bairamukov with a 7–2 division on his opening bout, and grappled Namibia's Nico Jacobs into the ring at the peak of the first minute by an eleven-point advantage, earning him a spot for the quarterfinals.Followed by the next day's session, Aghayev could not push Iranian wrestler Alireza Heidari off the mat with a 5–0 defeat in the quarterfinal match, but offered a chance to redeem himself as he pinned China's Wang Yuanyuan in nearly a full minute for a fifth-place finish.