#25Under25

UWW 25-Under-25: No. 21-No. 25

Wednesday, February 9, 2022 - 13:57 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 9) -- The mental and physical strain wrestling puts on the body once led Olympic champion Dan GABLE (USA) to say: “Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.”

Over the last few months, some of the biggest fixtures in wrestling from the last decade – Aline FOCKEN (GER), Tamas LORINCZ (HUN), Cenk ILDEM (TUR) and Frank STAEBLER (GER), among many others – hung up their shoes and decided to head into that “easy” phase of life.

As we continue to pay homage to those trailblazers heading into their post-wrestling chapters of life, it’s time to whisk in the next generation of talent that’ll shoulder the weight of the sport into the Paris Olympic Games and beyond.

With three short years left until the Paris Games, we’re redirecting our attention to the sport's brightest young stars who are entering the prime of their careers. United World Wrestling looked at 25 wrestlers who will undoubtedly keep wrestling fans at the edge of their seats throughout '22 and beyond.

The question you asked and we answered: “Who are the Top 25 Under 25?”

Here's UWW's first segment -- No. 21 through No. 25 -- of the Top 25 Under 25 to keep an eye on!

No. 25 - Alina AKOBIYA (UKR), 23-years-old (September 5, 1999)

Alina Akobiya has been one of the brightest stars of Ukrainian women's wrestling. While she had success prior to 2021, she made a name for herself last year, winning the U23 World and European Championships. She also qualified Ukraine for the Tokyo Olympics at 57kg. Unfortunately, an elbow injury kept her out of competing in Tokyo.

Ukraine has been challenging women's wrestling powerhouses like Japan and China for a few years now with Akobiya being one of the mainstays. She began her international career in 2015. A year later, she won the Cadet European Championships, and in 2017, finished with a bronze medal at the U23 Worlds,

At the senior level, Akobiya is a two-time European medalist with silver in 2020 and bronze in 2021. But her active wrestling and clean technique make her one of the stronger wrestlers at 57kg -- a weight class that is arguably the deepest in the world.

With European Championships scheduled next month in Budapest, Hungary, Akobiya will have a chance to further her place on the Ukrainian team and make her senior Worlds debut when Belgrade, Serbia comes around.

No. 24 - Osman NURMAGOMEDOV (AZE), 24-years-old (May 21, 1998)
Azerbaijan's next generation of wrestlers has a bunch of talented wrestlers ready to take on the world. Osman Nurmagomedov is a part of that group. A senior world bronze medalist, Numagomedov made his international debut in 2020 but has since then won gold at U23 Worlds, apart from winning medals at senior and U23 Euros.

His methodical style of wrestling can be frustrating for his opponents, and according to him, it is only a matter of time before he will be one of the best at the senior level.

With his age-group tournaments in the rearview, Nurmagomedov, who hails from the family of Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE), will have to increase his strength and stamina to be a force internationally.

No. 23 - Artur SARGSYAN (RWF), 24-years-old (March 13, 1998)
Wrestling fans will have their eyes on Artur Sargsyan during the '24 Paris Olympic cycle. He is destined to clash with Olympic champion Musa EVLOEV (RWF) if he wants to make the Russian team for Paris.

The 24-year-old has all the qualities to achieve the highest in wrestling. A bronze medalist at the Oslo World Championships, Sargsyan won the U23 Worlds a month later in Belgrade, adding to his U23 European and senior Russian titles in 2021.

He already has a bronze at senior Worlds after losing to eventual champion Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI), but as he gains more experience, Sargsyan will be a tough competitor. Bur first, he has a big hurdle to cross domestically and that's Evloev.

No. 22 - TUMUR OCHIR Tulga (MGL), 24-year-old (February 11, 1998)
Tumur-Ochir Tulga has waited a long time for a senior world medal, but he ended that drought with a bronze medal at the '21 Oslo Worlds. In 2019, he dropped his medal match and finished in fifth place, but qualified for the Tokyo Games.

Tumur-Ochir finished in ninth-place at the Olympics after losing to champion Takuto OTOGURO (JPN). But that doesn't do justice to a hard worker like Tumur-Ochir, who has stunning defense and can surprise his opponents with big throws and leg attacks.

If Oslo was any evidence, Tumur Ochir will be a strong contender at 65kg in the upcoming Olympic cycle. A real test will be the home Asian Championships in April later this year.

No. 21 - Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM), 22-years-old (November 22, 1999)
At his first senior-level tournament in 2019, Arsen Harutyunyan came home with a gold medal at the European Championships. He was always primed to be a star with his U17 and U20 wins at the continental and world level.

A year later, he qualified Armenia for the Tokyo Olympics with a gold-medal-winning performance, with a bronze at the Oslo Worlds, and to cap it all, won the U23 World title in Belgrade.

In 2022, Harutyunyan will be a wrestler to watch out for at 61kg as he looks to put behind the disappointing Olympics at 57kg as he finished 13th. But with some confidence-boosting wins throughout the last year, Harutyunyan will be Armenia's best bet for medals at most tournaments this year.

#JapanWrestling

Two-time Olympic champ Risako Kinjo brings curtain down on stellar career

Sunday, October 12, 2025 - 23:14 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO, Japan (October 12) -- Risako KINJO (JPN), who won two Olympic gold medals under her maiden name of Kawai before capturing a fourth world title last year after giving birth, officially announced her retirement over the weekend.

"I felt that I had experienced everything that was good about being a wrestler," the 31-year-old Kinjo told the Japanese media Sunday on bringing down the curtain on one of wrestling's most sterling careers. "I felt fulfilled and happy with a life in which wrestling was my passion."

Kinjo also revealed that she is pregnant with her second child as she spoke to the media at the Japan Women's Open in Akitsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where she was coaching younger sister Yukako TSUNEMURA (JPN), who was returning to the mat for the first time since becoming a mother herself.

Kinjo first announced her retirement on her Instagram account on Saturday night, stating that in the 24 years since she started wrestling at age 7, "I have had good experiences and bad, highs and lows. But to win four world championships and two consecutive Olympics was all due to the support and encouragement of many people. I thank them all."

Kinjo first struck Olympic gold at 63kg at Rio in 2016, then won out in a duel that captivated the wrestling world with fellow Rio and four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN) for the 57kg spot at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she took home a second gold.

Of the clash of the titans with Icho, Kawai remarked, "I had no more difficult period than that. I'm glad I was able to experience it."

In the Tokyo semifinals, Kinjo had to face yet another Rio gold medalist in Helen MAROULIS (USA), who had moved up from 53kg. Kinjo came away with a 2-1 win, then defeated Iryna KURACHKINA (UWW) 5-0 for the gold.

With Yukako also winning the 62kg gold, it elevated the Kawai sisters to celebrity status in the host country. The two got their start in the sport at the kids' club run by their mother. Both of their parents were national-level wrestlers.

Soon after Tokyo, Risako married former wrestler Kiryu KINJO, and in May 2022, gave birth to a baby girl. Instead of settling down to a domestic life, motherhood lit a fresh flame to continue the sport.

"I had originally planned to win the Tokyo Olympics and then retire gracefully," Kinjo said. "I even told people around me that I would quit after the Tokyo Olympics. But when I got married and got pregnant, I felt that my body wasn't only my own, and I wanted to continue wrestling.

"While I was pregnant, I watched Yukako's matches and thought to myself, 'If it were me, I would do it like this,' so after my child was born, I decided to try it again."

Her bid to win a third straight Olympic gold in Paris, however, was derailed by the reigning world 57kg champion Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN), who went on to triumph in the French capital.

Rebuffing speculation that the loss would mark her swan song, she showed her passion for the sport by sticking around. With the incentive of wanting to have her daughter see her compete and make some history, she had no qualms about moving into the non-Olympic weight of 59kg.

She suffered a setback of sorts at the Asian Championships in April 2024, when she lost to Qi ZHANG (CHN) in the semifinals and had to settle for a bronze medal.

But she righted the ship at the Non-Olympic Weight World Championships in October that year in Tirana, Albania, where she cruised into the 59kg final and defeated Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL) 4-2.

"No one from Japan had ever achieved becoming a 'world No. 1 as a mama', and it would be ideal if I could do it," Kinjo recalled thinking. "When I accomplished it at the World Championships last October, as soon as it was over I thought there is nothing else that I want."

That victory added to the three consecutive senior world golds that she won from 2017 to 2019. She also has a silver from 2015, and her laurels include a world cadet (U17) gold and two world junior (U20) titles, and she was a four-time Asian champion.

Kinjo was a star at Shigakkan University during its golden era as the elite powerhouse of women's wrestling in Japan, also producing such greats as Icho, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), Eri TOSAKA (JPN), Mayu MUKAIDA (JPN) and Sara DOSHO (JPN).

Looking ahead, she says her focus will be on raising her new baby while staying involved in the sport.

"Right now I am eight months pregnant, and first and foremost I will put my full efforts into proper childcare. And at the same time, I will be Yukako's coach and always maintain a link to wrestling," she said.

At the Japan Women's Open, a second-tier event that offers qualifying spots at the All-Japan Championships, Yukako showed she still has some rust to be knocked off. Entered at 59kg, she won her first two matches before falling to high schooler Miuna KIMURA (JPN) 4-1 in the semifinals.

The tournament also saw the return of Sakurai for her first competition since winning the gold in Paris. She needed three wins to take the 57kg title, defeating collegian Himeka HASEGAWA (JPN) 5-0 in the final.