#WrestleWarsaw

16 Reigning Champs Entered into #WrestleWarsaw Euro C'ships

Friday, April 16, 2021 - 12:34 By Eric Olanowski

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WARSAW, Poland (April 16) -- The European Championships start next week in Poland with more than half of 2020's champions returning to the mat for wrestling's premier continental event. 

A total of seven champions will return in women's wrestling, joined by five in freestyle and four in Greco-Roman. The 2020 European Championships were held in Rome just prior to the worldwide shutdown of sports in March of that year.

Grace BULLEN (NOR) and Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) won titles at 57kg and 59kg respectively in 2020, but both opting for 59kg in '21. The Norwegian two-time European champion traditionally wrestles at the Olympic weight of 57kg, but she's moving up to conserve energy for the final Olympic Qualification event of the year, the World Olympic Qualifier (May 5-9) in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Two-time world gold medalist and reigning Euro champ Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) is the favorite at 53kg, but last year's 55kg top-two finishers, respectively, Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (RUS) Mariia VYNNYK (UKR), are looking to take out the Belarusian.

Miglena SELISHKA enters the European Championships fresh off winning the European Olympic Qualifier event, where she punched Bulgaria's ticket to the Olympic Games at 50kg. For her to win a second consecutive European title, Selishka will have to navigate a 50kg bracket that'll feature Mariya STADNIK (AZE), Emilia Alina VUC (ROU) and Ekaterina POLESHCHUK (RUS). Stadnik was the '19 world champion, while Vuc and Poleshchuk finished with silver and bronze, respectively. Other threats include world bronze medalists Evin DEMIRHAN (TUR) and Oksana LIVACH (UKR).

The final pair of women's wrestling '20 champions are the Russian one-two-punch of Khanum VELIEVA (RUS) and Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS).

Velieva, who qualified Russia for the Olympic Games with a second-place finish at the European Olympic Qualifier, is entered at 68kg. She'll share the bracket with European Olympic Qualifier champion and fellow Tokyo Olympian Koumba LARROQUE (FRA).

Vorobeva, the London Olympic champion, replaced defending champion Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) at 76kg. Other returning medalist entered at 76kg include bronze medalists Aline ROTTER FOCKEN (GER) and Iselin SOLHEIM (NOR).

Freestyle will feature five men with aspirations to defend their European golds.

Reigning three-time heavyweight champion of the world Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) highlights the long list of star-studded freestyle entries. The 27-year-old Georgian's likely path to a third European title will go through his long-time rival and seven-time continental champion Taha AKGUL (TUR).

At 74kg, Frank CHAMIZO MARQUEZ (ITA) is looking to win a third straight European title and fifth overall. Standing in the Italian's way will be the man who defeated him in the finals at the Individual World Cup Razambek ZHAMALOV (RUS). Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO), the '21 European Olympic Qualifier champion and '18 world runner-up, is also entered at 74kg.

Russia's '19 86kg world bronze medalist Artur NAIFONOV (RUS) will be making his third appearance at the European Championships. He's undefeated in those past two trips and won golds in '18 and '20. Fellow Tokyo Olympians Myles AMINE (SMR), Osman GOCEN (TUR), Stefan REICHMUTH (SUI) and Ali SHABANAU (BLR) will also compete at 86kg.

Magomedmurad GADZHIEV (POL) and Suleyman KARADENIZ (TUR) claimed gold in Rome last year at the none Olympic weights of 70kg and 92kg, respectively. Gadzhiev, who is coming off a 65kg fifth-place finish at the Olympic Qualifier event, will move back up to the non-Olympic weight of 70kg. Karadeniz, who qualified Turkey for the Olympic Games at 97kg, is staying put at the Olympic weight.

Three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) is on a quest to win a third European title. He's entered at 72kg. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

In Greco-Roman, there will be a quartet of returning champions.

It's no secret that Germany's three-time world champion Frank STAEBLER (GER) struggles to make 67kg. So, for a second year, the "Mele Machine" will try to win European gold at 72kg. If he wins, he'll match his continental gold tally with his world gold total.

But, to win that third continental gold, Staebler will have to get through '20 European bronze medalist Selcuk CAN (TUR) and Individual World Cup finalist Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM).

At 130kg, Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) was the first wrestler not named Riza KAYAALP (TUR) to win a 130kg European title since '12. Kayaalp, who fell to an uncharacteristic seventh-place finish last year, is heading into Warsaw with a tenth continental gold on his mind.

Gevorg GHARIBYAN (ARM) and Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE) are the final pair of returning gold medalists. They'll compete at 60kg and 77kg, respectively.

The European Championships start on April 19-25 in Warsaw, Poland, and can be followed live on www.uww.org.

#JapanWrestling

Two-time Olympic champ Risako Kinjo brings curtain down on stellar career

Sunday, October 12, 2025 - 23:14 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO, Japan (October 12) -- Risako KINJO (JPN), who won two Olympic gold medals under her maiden name of Kawai before capturing a fourth world title last year after giving birth, officially announced her retirement over the weekend.

"I felt that I had experienced everything that was good about being a wrestler," the 31-year-old Kinjo told the Japanese media Sunday on bringing down the curtain on one of wrestling's most sterling careers. "I felt fulfilled and happy with a life in which wrestling was my passion."

Kinjo also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child as she spoke to the media at the Japan Women's Open in Akitsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where she was coaching younger sister Yukako TSUNEMURA (JPN), who was returning to the mat for the first time since becoming a mother herself.

Kinjo first announced her retirement on her Instagram account on Saturday night, stating that in the 24 years since she started wrestling at age 7, "I have had good experiences and bad, highs and lows. But to win four world championships and two consecutive Olympics was all due to the support and encouragement of many people. I thank them all."

Kinjo first struck Olympic gold at 63kg at Rio in 2016, then won out in a duel that captivated the wrestling world with fellow Rio and four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN) for the 57kg spot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she took home a second gold.

Of the clash of the titans with Icho, Kawai remarked, "I had no more difficult period than that. I'm glad I was able to experience it."

In the Tokyo semifinals, Kinjo had to face yet another Rio gold medalist in Helen MAROULIS (USA), who had moved up from 53kg. Kinjo came away with a 2-1 win, then defeated Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW) 5-0 for the gold.

With Yukako also winning the 62kg gold, it elevated the Kawai sisters to celebrity status in the host country. The two got their start in the sport at the kids' club run by their mother. Both of their parents were national-level wrestlers.

Soon after Tokyo, Risako married former wrestler Kiryu KINJO, and in May 2022, gave birth to a baby girl. Instead of settling down to a domestic life, motherhood lit a fresh flame to continue the sport.

"I had originally planned to win the Tokyo Olympics and then retire gracefully," Kinjo said. "I even told people around me that I would quit after the Tokyo Olympics. But when I got married and got pregnant, I felt that my body wasn't only my own, and I wanted to continue wrestling.

"While I was pregnant, I watched Yukako's matches and thought to myself, 'If it were me, I would do it like this,' so after my child was born, I decided to try it again."

Her bid to win a third straight Olympic gold in Paris, however, was derailed by the reigning world 57kg champion Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN), who went on to triumph in the French capital.

Rebuffing speculation that the loss would mark her swan song, she showed her passion for the sport by sticking around. With the incentive of wanting to have her daughter see her compete and make some history, she had no qualms about moving into the non-Olympic weight of 59kg.

She suffered a setback of sorts at the Asian Championships in April 2024, when she lost to Qi ZHANG (CHN) in the semifinals and had to settle for a bronze medal.

But she righted the ship at the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships in October that year in Tirana, Albania, where she cruised into the 59kg final and defeated Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) 4-2.

"No one from Japan had ever achieved becoming a 'world No. 1 as a mama', and it would be ideal if I could do it," Kinjo recalled thinking. "When I accomplished it at the World Championships last October, as soon as it was over I thought there is nothing else that I want."

That victory added to the three consecutive senior world golds that she won from 2017 to 2019. She also has a silver from 2015, and her laurels include a world cadet (U17) gold and two world junior (U20) titles, and she was a four-time Asian champion.

Kinjo was a star at Shigakkan University during its golden era as the elite powerhouse of women's wrestling in Japan, also producing such greats as Icho, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), Eri TOSAKA (JPN), Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Sara DOSHO (JPN).

Looking ahead, she says her focus will be on raising her new baby while staying involved in the sport.

"Right now I am eight months pregnant, and first and foremost I will put my full efforts into proper childcare. And at the same time, I will be Yukako's coach and always maintain a link to wrestling," she said.

At the Japan Women's Open, a second-tier event that offers qualifying spots at the All-Japan Championships, Yukako showed she still has some rust to be knocked off. Entered at 59kg, she won her first two matches before falling to high schooler Miuna KIMURA (JPN) 4-1 in the semifinals.

The tournament also saw the return of Sakurai for her first competition since winning the gold in Paris. She needed three wins to take the 57kg title, defeating collegian Himeka HASEGAWA (JPN) 5-0 in the final.