#development

Pan-Am training camp wrestlers win 24 medals in Acapulco

By United World Wrestling Press

MEXICO CITY (May 21) -- Before the Senior Pan-American Championships in Acapulco, United World Wrestling and Mexico Wrestling Federation held a training camp from April 1 to May 2 in Mexico City.

A total of 74 wrestlers from eight different Pam-Am countries participated in the month-long camp. Wrestlers from Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, and Puerto Rico were at the camp and supported by UWW's Development Department Technical Assistance program.

Out of the 74 wrestlers who participated in the training camp, 24 stepped up on the podium at the 2022 Pan-Am Championships in Acapulco, and 14 won a quota for their countries for the 2023 Pan-American Games to be held in Santiago, Chile.

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The wrestlers were housed at the Mexican Olympic Sports Center (CDOM) for 23 days of the camp and were provided with all the necessary facilities for optimal performance. They had three meals, planned according to the nutritional needs of high-performance athletes, per day in the CDOM dining room.

All participants had access to the different facilities of the CDOM including the mat sessions which were held in the recently inaugurated Olympic Wrestling Gymnasium, a facility that has three official mats, a sauna, showers, physical conditioning equipment, ice machine, among other amenities for the athletes. They also had training sessions in the physical conditioning gymnasium and the athletics track of the CDOM.

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For recreation, the wrestlers had access to different amenities, such as television, board games, foosball, and movie projection, among others.

All the coaches for the different countries had an active role in the development of the training sessions, making this training camp enjoyable for all the participants and creating partnerships between countries.

Medical, psychological, and physiotherapeutic care to all participants who required it was also provided by Dr. Jacques Rogge of the Center of Medicine and Applied Sports Sciences. 
Medical specialists were available 24-hours a day and an ambulance was available in case of an emergency.

#WrestleSamokov

Japan defends U20 Worlds women's team title

By Vinay Siwach

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 22) -- Japan defended its Women's Wrestling team title at the World U20 Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria with two more gold medals on Friday.

The Women's Wrestling competition came to a close in Bulgaria with three weight classes, 50kg, 53kg and 72kg, and Japan won the first two gold medals while India won 72kg. India finished second in the team race with 140 points, 25 less than Japan which had 165 points.

Rinka OGAWA (JPN) won the 50kg gold medal with 9-3 win over three-time age-group world medalist Audrey JIMINEZ (USA) in the final. Ogawa gave up the first takedown but she hit a single-leg and turn to lead 4-2 at the break.

The second period was more scrappy but Ogawa gave up just a reversal while four points to win 8-3. The United States challenged at the end of match but there was no points for Jiminez and one more point to Ogawa's score for the lost challenge.

This was Jiminez's third loss to a Japanese wrestler in finals of World Championships. She lost to Umi ITO (JPN) in the World U20 and U23 finals in 2022 and 2023 respectively. Her one other loss came to Yanrong LI (USA) in 2023 at the World U20 Championships. She will now look to change her fortunes at the senior World Championships in Zagreb next month.

Japan's second gold cane with Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) who defeated European U20 champion Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR) in controlled 6-0 final. She scored three takedowns in six minutes for the win and earn herself the gold medal.

At 72kg, world U17 silver medalist last month, KAJAL (IND) managed to survive a fall attempt and a threating Yuqi LIU (CHN) in the final and win her first world U20 title to go with her world U17 gold from 2024.

Kajal used snapdowns to pressure Liu and score three takedowns and lead 6-0 but as the match progressed Liu hit a leg-attack and scored a takedown, and cradle Kajal who barely managed to get out off the lock and keep the 6-4 lead.

Both traded a takedown each in the remainder of the bout but Kajal held on for an 8-6 lead and win the gold medal.

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Rinka OGAWA (JPN) df. Audrey JIMENEZ (USA), 9-3

BRONZE: SHRUTI (IND) df. Josephine WRENSCH (GER), 6-0
BRONZE: Na HU (CHN) df. Diana RYSOVA (UKR), 7-5

53kg
GOLD: Natsumi MASUDA (JPN) df. Anastasiia POLSKA (UKR), 6-0

BRONZE: SAARIKA (IND) df. Ilona VALCHUK (POL), 11-0
BRONZE: Kseniya KOSTSENICH (UWW) df. Abigale COOPER (USA), 11-10

72kg
GOLD: KAJAL (IND) df. Yuqi LIU (CHN), 8-6

BRONZE: Kristina BRATCHIKOVA (UWW) df. Haticenur SARI (TUR), 17-12
BRONZE: Kaiyrkul SHARSHEBAEVA (KGZ) vs. Jasmine ROBINSON (USA), via inj. def.