Beach wrestling

No Beach, No Problem

Sunday, October 7, 2018 - 07:10 By Marc Berman

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SARIGERME, Turkey (October 6th and 7th) --  St. Louis, USA to Sarigerme, Turkey is a long trip- don’t tell that to Michael PETERS (USA).  He was happy to make the trip if it would mean another chance to compete for his first world championship title. After being stopped short for a 5th place finish in the Senior Men’s 70kg last year, Peters has his eye on gold.

“This year my strategy is to slow the matches down and be more selective with my shots. The footing is different in the sand, your reaction time is slower.”

Training for the beach style is not always a simple task logistically, with no beaches near by his home, to find sand to practice on Michael makes use of a local volleyball court. “Half of my training time is spent with my college team in folkstyle and half is independently on the sand on the volleyball court. In the sand, I focus on practicing throws that can work on the beach because some throws do not work as well.”

Being used to traveling around the United States to find tournaments in folkstyle and freestyle, Michael is excited for the potential of taking part in the Beach Wrestling World Series starting next year and traveling to beaches around the world.

Watch the medal rounds live tomorrow in United World Wrestling. The matches start at 7am GMT.

 

#WrestleBelgrade

Explainer: How do wrestlers qualify for the Paris Olympic Games?

Monday, September 4, 2023 - 11:44 By Eric Olanowski

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BELGRADE, Serbia (September 4) --- The path to Paris for 288 athletes will be a three stage process to determine who will wrestle for Olympic glory.

The first phase will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, at the 2023 World Championships, September 16-24th, where five quotas for the each of the 18 Olympic categories—a total of 90 quotas—will be allocated.

Wrestlers who earn a gold, silver or bronze will earn a bid. Additionally, the losers of the bronze-medal matches will wrestle in true fifth match, determining the fifth allocation in Belgrade.

Phase two is the continental qualification phase where 144 quotas handed out at the:
- Pan American Olympic Qualifier (Acapulco, Mexico, March 1-3)
- African Olympic Qualifier (Alexandria, Egypt, March 22-24)
- European Olympic Qualifier (Baku, Azerbaijan, April 4-7)
- Asian Olympic Qualifier (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, April 19-21)

The first and second place finishers at the Continental Olympic Qualifier earn an automatic bid to the Paris Olympics for their nation. 

The final stage for the Paris Olympic qualifying process comes down to Istanbul, Türkiye, for the Last Chance Qualifier, where the final 54 tickets will be booked. The gold and silver medalists and the winner of a true third match will punch their ticket to the Olympics.

Follow all the action from the World Championships, Continental Olympic Qualifiers and the Last Chance Qualifier, live on UWW+ or on, “The Home Of Wrestling,” UWW’s app.