COVID-19

Bureau Announces Change of Dates and Locations for 2021 Championships and Qualifiers

Tuesday, December 22, 2020 - 16:08 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 22) – The United World Wrestling bureau held a virtual meeting Tuesday to discuss several topics, including an update to the dates and locations of competitions in 2021.

Citing limited interest in a January competition, the bureau voted to move the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series tournament from mid-January to March 4-7.

To help with costs and coordination the bureau also voted to combine the Asian Championships and Olympic Qualifier to Almaty, Kazakhstan with the tournaments set to run back-to-back April 9-17. Similarly, the African & Oceania Qualifier and African Championships are scheduled to be held back-to-back in El Jadida, Morocco from April 2-11. Due to travel concerns surrounding COVID-19 the Oceania continental championships have been cancelled.

Given the large number of expected participants, the European Championships and European Olympic Qualifier will remain at separate locations with the Qualifier scheduled March 18-21 in Budapest and the Championships April 19-25 in Poland.

The World Olympic Qualifier will remain in Sofia but has been moved one week later to May 6-9. The Pan Am Championships in Rio de Janeiro and the Poland Ranking Series events will remain unchanged.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic all competition dates and locations will be subject to change based on the conditions in host countries as well as their ability to meet United World Wrestling’s strict sanitary guidelines for events


Ranking Series Matteo Pellicone
March 4-7 (Rome, ITA)

*European Olympic Games Qualifier
March 18-21 (Budapest, HUN)

*African & Oceania Olympic Games Qualifier
April 2-4 (El Jadida, MAR)

African Championships
April 6-11 (El Jadida, MAR)

*Asian Olympic Games Qualifier
April 9-11 (Almaty, KAZ)

Asian Championships
April 12-17 (Almaty, KAZ)

European Championships
April 19-25 (Warsaw, POL)

*World Olympic Games Qualifier
May 6-9 (Sofia, BUL)

Pan-American Championships
May 27-30 (Rio de Janeiro, BRA)

Ranking Series Poland Open
June 8-13 (Warsaw, POL)

* Denotes Olympic Games Qualifier

 

#WrestleBudapest

Grace Bullen Move: Outside Trip That Defines European Champ

Thursday, July 9, 2026 - 10:31 By Vinay Siwach

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (July 9) -- Grace BULLEN (NOR) lost the most important match of her career while attempting her trademark outside trip, trying to finish the bout with a fall. It came in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games semifinal against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), who countered with a neck bridge, tossing Bullen over for the fall.

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Despite the mixed results the move has produced over the years, Bullen did not hesitate to use it in the 2026 European Championships final against Amina TANDELOVA (RUS). Trailing 9-0, Bullen hooked her left foot behind Tandelova's heel and brought her down for the fall.

Three months after their epic European 62kg final, Bullen and Tandelova will be at the Budapest Ranking Series from July 15 to 19, the last stop to gain ranking points before the World Championships.

They will be joined by a strong field that includes former world champion Qi ZHANG (CHN), world bronze medalist Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR), and European medalists Johanna LINDBORG (SWE) and Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR).

The field also includes Ana GODINEZ (CAN) and former U20 world champion Eniko ELEKES (HUN), who will have the backing of the home crowd. Two Indians, MANSI (IND) and SAVITA (IND), are also entered among others.

Grace BULLEN (NOR)Grace BULLEN (NOR) performs the outside trip against Amina TANDELOVA (RUS) during the 62kg final at the European Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

The same move also rescued Bullen at the Tirana Ranking Series, where she trailed Mansi before winning 6-5.

Speaking after winning European gold, Bullen acknowledged both the risk and the reward of the move.

"I know it's my go-to when I'm down, but I also lost in that situation, the same place," Bullen said. "I know how it is being on the receiving end, also being an attacker in that situation. But glad it worked out for me.

"It's more risky that way and just locking the leg and going forward it's much less risky, especially for me."

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Grace Bullen (@gracebullen7)

 

A pivotal career decision saw Bullen relocate her training base to Georgia under coach Zurabi IAKOBISHVILI. Since moving to 62kg, she has won world and Olympic medals and established herself as one of the division's most dangerous wrestlers. The demanding training in Georgia and the move up in weight have transformed her wrestling and her mindset, even if the results have occasionally fluctuated.

"I'm also getting older," she said. "I have to be wise with how I train and so I keep my shape."

That experience has also made Bullen more patient than she was five years ago.

"I've years of experience in wrestling," she said. "I take losses with a greater smile than I ever did before. Just knowing that this year I was in two ranking series competitions and only won one match, I am more patient with everything. I know that even though I lose, I can win in the future."