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LIVE BLOG: African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier , Day Two

Saturday, April 3, 2021 - 10:09 By Eric Olanowski

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HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 3) -- Women's wrestling takes center stage on Day 2 of action at the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier.

19:20:  The semifinal session just wrapped up. We'll take a few-minute break and roll right into the medal matches.

19:11: This'll be the final match of the semifinal session. We'll take a quick break and roll right into the medal matches. 

19:07: Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) continues to roll past the competition at 68kg. She's barely broke a sweat in her first two matches. She's scored back-to-back technical superiority wins on the day. Oborudud's first came against Enas Mostafa Youssef Khourshed AHMED (EGY) and her second came against Anta SAMBOU (SEN). She'll wrestle Khadija JLASSI (TUN) in the third round. 

18:53: After dominating semifinal performances, Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI) and Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) qualified Guinea and Tunisia for the Olympic Games at 57kg. Camara pinned Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) after leading 6-0, and Bouseta scored two takedowns, two exposures and a reversal to defeat Eman EBRAHIM (EGY), 9-2.

18:35: How about that? Rckaela AQUINO (GUM) scored five first-period takedowns against Siwar LOUATI BEN ALI (TUN) and booked Guam a ticket to the Olympic Games at 53kg. She's the second women's wrestler ever from Guam to qualify for the Olympic Games. 

18:22: After leading 10-0, Joseph Emilienne ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) pinned Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG) and qualified Cameroon for the Olympic Games at 53kg. That was her second win of the day via fall. In her first match, Essombe Tiako pinned her '20 finals opponent Bose SAMUEL (NGR) in less than a minute. 

18:21: ICYMI: Tunisia Tallies Four GR Olympic Berths on Friday

18:13: There's going to be one more 50kg Round 4 match. After that, the next four matches will determine Olympic berths as 53kg and 57kg are traditional brackets.

18:07: We're back to action! The match order is posted below. Outside of 53kg and 57kg, the majority of these matches will be Nordic-style bracket matches -- meaning the winners may not punch their nation's tickets to Tokyo. They'll have to finish in the top two to book a spot at the Tokyo Olympics.

HAMMAMET, Tunisia (April 3) -- Women's wrestling takes center stage on Day 2 of action at the African and Oceania Olympic Qualifier.

12:40: That concludes the morning session. We'll return at 18:00 for the women's wrestling Tokyo Qualification round.

Traditional-Bracket Semifinal Matches:

53kg
SEMIFINAL - Siwar LOUATI BEN ALI (TUN) vs. Rckaela Ramos AQUINO (GUM) 
SEMIFINAL - Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) vs. Lamia CHEMLAL (ALG) 

57kg
SEMIFINAL - Siwar BOUSETA (TUN) vs. Eman EBRAHIM (EGY) 
SEMIFINAL - Fatoumata CAMARA (GUI) vs. Rayane HOUFAF (ALG) 

12:35: This'll be the last match of the morning session. 

12:13: What a match! Amri comes out on top, 3-1. She waited for the inactivity clock to expire, and once it did, she struck with a takedown and won by two points. Smart wrestling on behalf of the Tunisian. 

12:03: One of African women's wrestling biggest rivalries Amri and Adeniyi just started on Mat B.

11:57: This session is flying by! We only have two matches left on each mat. 

11:39: That didn't last too long! Hamza was quick to hit a nasty headlock. She pinned Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) and will wrestle Debora TURE (GBS) in two matches on Mat C!

11:30: Samar HAMZA (EGY) is coming up next on Mat A. The reigning African champ is ranked No. 2 in the world at 76kg after her runner-up finish at the '21 Matteo Pellicone in Rome earlier this year.

11:22: Amri only led 1-0 after the first frame but is a different wrestler here in the second. She stopped an attack from Berthe ETANE NGOLLE (CMR) then snagged two gut wrenches and closed out the match 7-0. Amri's next match will be against Aminat ADENIYI (NGR) -- the last African wrestler to hand her a loss.

11:19: Rio Olympic bronze medalist iMarwa AMRI (TUN) is up now on Mat A! 

11:10: We barely had time to get situated and we already had a '20 African finals rematch go down! Joseph ESSOMBE TIAKO (CMR) hip tossed Bose SAMUEL (NGR) and earned the 24-second fall. That match was in the opening round at 53kg.

11:00: We're ready to get things roll on Day 2! Below you'll find the opening round match order for the morning session. 

#WrestleParis

Olympic champion Focken carries Olympic torch for Paris 2024

Thursday, June 27, 2024 - 09:38 By Vinay Siwach

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ALSACE, France (June 27) -- Tokyo Olympic champion Aline FOCKEN (GER) was part of the Olympic Torch Relay on Wednesday in Alsace, stage 41 of the relay for the 2024 Paris Games.

"It was magical," Focken said. "It was a short run for only a few minutes but I enjoyed it. I felt the Olympic spirit and pride to run with the torch. We were briefed a lot, about the significance of the torch and it's for peace and I felt it all the time. It was special."

The relay began from the European Parliament and then passed in front of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe. It also lit up the city’s covered bridges, the Grande île district, the Alsatian Museum and the Notre Dame gothic cathedral before finishing at Place Kléber, in the city’s heart, where the celebration venue was located.

 

The Olympic Torch Relay continued its voyage through eastern France with a distinctly European tone. In addition to putting the spotlight on the gems of Alsace, the Olympic Torch Relay also highlighted fraternity between people, such as Franco-German links, which were celebrated during an exceptional collective relay on the Three Countries Bridge in Huningue. Another collective relay took place in Strasbourg, dedicated, as each day, to a specific sport.

Focken carried the torch at the start of the three country bridge for 250 metres. The starting point of Focken's run was in Germany while her finish was in France. She then handed over the Olympic Torch to Frenchman Eric Kueny, representative of the host country in Huningue.

Aline FOCKEN (GER)Aline FOCKEN (GER) with the Olympic torch on Wednesday. (Photo: Lewis Joly)

Focken, who won the gold medal in 76kg weight class in Tokyo, became the first woman from Germany to win gold at the Olympics in wrestling. She said her feeling was similar to Olympic Games but she was nervous before the run.

"I was nervous," she said. "It's different and all the TV is around you. I was relaxed but nervous. It was a really special moment and I thought that this may be the last Olympic moment for you so just enjoy it. I took my family with me to the relay."