COVID-19

IOC Refugee Scholarship Holders Oboadi, Alwad in Training Videos

Thursday, April 30, 2020 - 17:09 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (May 1) -- IOC Refugee Scholarship recipient and Greco-Roman wrestler Aker Al OBOADI shared a video of himself training during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Oboadi who left his home in Iraq for Austria, is preparing for the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo set to start July 23, 2021.


AL OBOADI and Ali ALAWAD, originally from Syria, are the first two wrestlers in the history of our sport to wear the UWW flag at the continental and world competitions. Thanks to the initiative of the IOC and National Olympic Committees of  Austria and Egypt, wrestling refugees are entitled to take part in the sport and pursue their Olympic dream. Both athletes plan to compete in their respective continental qualifiers in 2021, and if necessary, the "Last Chance" Olympic qualifier.

Stay tuned to United World Wrestling for more news, highlights, and updates.

Obituary

Georgia's Nugzari Tsurtsumia, 2019 world champion, dies at 27

Thursday, July 4, 2024 - 10:59 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 3) -- Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO), a 2019 world champion, passed away Wednesday at the age of 27 years in his hometown Khobi, Georgia. The young star's death has left United World Wrestling and the entire wrestling community saddened.

The 27-year-old recently competed at the Budapest Ranking Series in June and won a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 55kg weight class, the same weight he has won two silver and two bronze medals at the World Championships. Apart from the five medals at the World Championships, Tsurtsumia also won four at the European Championships -- a silver and three bronzes.

At the age group level, Tsurtsumia accomplished much. He completed the set of medals at the European Championships, winning bronze at the U17 level, gold and two bronzes at the U20 and two golds at the U23 level.

In the age-group World Championships, Tsurtsumia was the U23 world champion in 2018 and a silver and bronze medalist at the U20 level.

His remarkable achievement came in Nursultan at the 2019 World Championships when he rocked the field to become the world champion. He outscored his opponents 34-3 in four bouts to win the gold, Georgia's first at the World Championships in 12 years.

United World Wrestling, Georgian Wrestling Federation and the wrestling community mourns the death of an incredible talent. Their thoughts are with the Tsurtsumia family in their time of grief.