Weekly FIVE!

Weekly FIVE! April 2, 2019

Tuesday, April 2, 2019 - 14:32 By Eric Olanowski

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This week's Weekly FIVE is dedicated to the 2019 European Championships, which begin April 8-14 in Bucharest, Romania. 

1. 22 Returning European Champions Set to Compete in Bucharest 
There will be 22 returning European champions competing at next week's 2019 European Championships in Bucharest, Romania. 

Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling each return eight of the ten Kaspisk gold medalists. 

In Greco-Roman, Adam KURAK (RUS) and Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) are two defending champions who’ll sit out in Bucharest, while the pair of women’s wrestling returning champions who won’t make the trip to Romania are reigning 50kg and 68kg gold medalists respectively, Mariya STADNIK (AZE) and Anastasia BRATCHIKOVA (RUS). 

The Freestyle competition is expected to feature six returning champions. The tournament will be without Russia’s Gadshimurad RASHIDOV, Artur NAIFONOV, Abdulrashid SADULAEV, and Turkey’s Soener DEMIRTAS.  

Returning European Champions 
Freestyle 
57kg - Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE)
65kg - Haji ALIYEV (AZE) 
74kg - Magomed KURBANALIEV (RUS) 
79kg - Akhmed GADZHIMAGOMEDOV (RUS)
97kg - Vladislav BAITSAEV (RUS)
125kg - Taha AKGUL (TUR) 

Greco-Roman 
55kg - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
60kg - Sergey EMELIN (RUS) 
63kg - Mihai MIHUT (ROU) 
67kg - Artem SURKOV (RUS) 
77kg - Roman VLASOV (RUS) 
87kg - Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) 
87kg -  Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO)
130kg - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) 

Women’s Wrestling 
53kg - Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) 
57kg - Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR) 
57kg -Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL)
59kg - Elif YESILIRMAK (TUR) 
62kg - Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) 
65kg - Petra OLLI (FIN) 
68kg - Anna FRANSSON (SWE) 
76kg - Yasemin ADAR (TUR) 

2. Olympic Champs Vlasov and Chakvetadze Added to Russia’s GR Lineup 
Just when the wrestling world thought the Russia Federation’s Greco-Roman lineup couldn’t get any better, they fill in their “holes” with the likes of Olympic champions Roman VLASOV and Davit CHAKVETADZE and four-time age-group world champion Aleksander KOMAROV. 

Vlasov, the two-time Olympic champion, pulled out of the World Championships two weeks prior after undergoing knee surgery. He gets reinserted into Russia’s lineup over his backup Aleksander CHERHIRKIN, who took advantage of Vlasov's absence by winning the 77kg world title in Budapest.

Olympic champion Chakvetadze takes the place of Bekkhan OZDOEV (RUS) at 87kg, and Komarov, takes over for Imil SHARAFETDINOV (RUS) at 82kg. 

With the additions of Vlasov, Chakvetadze, and Komarov, Russia’s lineup now features five returning world champions, two Olympic champions, a four-time age-group world champion, and a U23 world runner-up. The only wrestler without a world medal is Abuiazid MANTSIGOV, who fell in the 2018 bronze-medal bout at the 2018 World Championships. 

Russia’s Greco-Roman Lineup 
55kg - Vitalii KABALOEV - U23 world silver 
60kg - Sergey EMELIN - world champion
63kg - Stepan MARYANYAN - world champion
67kg - Artem SURKOV - world champion
72kg - Abuiazid MANTSIGOV
77kg - Roman VLASOV – two-time Olympic champion
82kg - Aleksandr KOMAROV – four-time world champion 
87kg - Davit CHAKVETADZE – Olympic champion 
97kg - Musa EVLOEV - world champion
130kg - Sergey SEMENOV – world champion 

3. Turkey Elects to go with Gor over Demirtas at 74kg 
Turkey elected to insert Yakup GOR into the European Championships at 74kg over three-time defending European champion Soener DEMIRTAS.

Gor, the two-time world bronze medalist, moved up to 74kg after finishing the 2017 Paris World Championships with a 70kg bronze medal but lost his starting spot to Demirtas in 2018. 

Gor comes into the European Championships ranked No. 6 in the world at 74. He has 28 Ranking Series points after his falling to defending world champion Zaurbek SIDAKOV (RUS) in the Ivan Yariguin finals, and a bronze-medal finish at the Dan Kolov. 

4. Poland Gives Zasina Nod Over Krawczyk at 53kg 
Poland made the difficult decision to roll with reigning 55kg European runner-up Roksana ZASINA (POL) over the world’s sixth-ranked 53kg wrestler, Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL). 

Zasina, the No. 16 ranked wrestler in the world and 2017 world bronze medalist, is dropping down from 55kg and takes the 53kg European spot from Krawczyk, who was a fifth-place finisher in Budapest and bronze medalist at the 2018 European Championships. 

The European Championships will be Zasina’s first appearance down at 53kg since her world podium run in Paris in 2017, where she finished with a bronze medal. 

5. World Champion Manukyan Moving up to 87kg 
Defending 82kg European champion Maksim MANUKYAN (ARM) will move up to 87kg for the European Championships. 

Manukyan, the 2017 80kg world champion, has bounced around over the past twelve months from 82kg to 87kg but has never competed above 82kg at a Continental or World Championships. Last season, Manukyan competed at 82kg in both Kasipiisk and Budapest. 

For Manukyan to win his second consecutive European title, he’ll have to upend reigning 87kg European champion, Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (GEO). 

Weekly FIVE! In Social Media 

1. #WrestleBucharest European C'ships, One Week To Go!
2. #OnThisDayHaji ALIYEV (AZE), the reigning 61kg world champion gave Azerbaijan their second straight gold medal of the night with a last-second takedown to defeat reigning 65kg European champion, Ilias BEKBULATOV (RUS), 8-7. 
#WrestleBucharest , 6 Days To Go ! 
3. Reigning 77kg European champion, @vlasovroma90. Does he repeat next week at the #WrestleBucharestEuropean Championships?
4. 300k!! A huge thank you to all our wrestling fans across the world ? ?‍♂️
5. Big Move Monday -- ALACA (TUR) -- 2018 Cadet Worlds

#development

UWW Women in Wrestling Global Forum concludes in Paris

Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 14:26 By United World Wrestling Press

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PARIS, France (December 7) --- The UWW Women in Wrestling Global Forum 2023, held in Paris from December 2nd to 4th, concluded on its third day with a sense of achievement and empowerment among all participants. This transformative event united leaders and experts in a collective effort to advance women in the world of wrestling.

 

Day 1: Opening Ceremony and Empowering Training

The first day commenced with a morning opening ceremony featuring welcome messages from key figures in the wrestling community. Mr. Nenad Lalovic, President of UWW, Mr. Fabien CANU, INSEP Director General, Mr. Lionel Lacaze, President of the French Wrestling Federation, Ms. Rodica Yaksi – UWW Bureau Member and Ms. Deqa Niamkey, UWW Development Director expressed their commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment in wrestling on a global scale.

Three priorities for advancing women in wrestling for UWW:

  1. Sustain Elite-Level Participation Growth:

Ensure continuous growth in elite-level participation across all domains (athletes, coaches, and referees).

  1. Promote Gender Equality through National Federation Policies:

Implement gender equality policies, focusing on increased inclusion of women in leadership roles.

Initiate the first steps of experience and practice at a national level through commissions, continental councils, NOC, Continental Confederations, etc.

  1. Foster Education Opportunities:

Maintain a commitment to education by providing opportunities through programs such as the WW Forum, WISH, Refereeing Courses, Athlete Scholarships, etc.

Following the opening ceremony, the day was dedicated to Women Empowerment Training led by Gabriela Mueller, focusing on goal-setting, self-leadership, and a leader's unique value proposition.

Day 2: Skill-Building and In-Depth Discussions

The second day continued with Women Empowerment Training in the morning, and in the afternoon, the event shifted to an engaging panel discussion on leadership challenges in wrestling. This insightful session, featuring distinguished speakers like Rodica Yaksi (TUR) - UWW Bureau Member, Csilla Ali (HUN) - General Secretary of the UWW European Council, and Buyana Pelje (MGL) - General Secretary of the UWW Asian Council, explored 21st-century leadership skills and group presentations on contemporary challenges. Skill-building sessions covered influence and persuasion skills, adopting a growth mindset, and mastering leadership fundamentals.

Day 3: Crossing the Finishing Line of Empowerment

On this final day, all participants collectively "crossed the finishing line" as they completed their empowering journey at the UWW Women in Wrestling Global Forum.

The day began with discussions on women leading in wrestling part II, with panelists such as Lise Le Grand (FRA) - Vice-Président of FRA NF; Board Member of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), Jaimie McNabb (USA) - Sr. Manager of Women’s Freestyle, Emerging Programs and National Teams Services, and Deqa Niamkey (SUI) - UWW Development Director; Chair of ASOIF Sports Development and Education Group; Member of ASOIF Gender Equality and Diversity sharing valuable insights and providing a toolkit for success.

The Leadership Training segment continued with a focus on the power of online presence in the social media era. Panelists, including Dragana Saveva (MKD) - Secretary General of Wrestling Federation of the Republic of North Macedonia, Tin Bregovic (CRO) - Secretary General of the Croatian Wrestling Federation, and Yuri Maier (ARG) - 13x Pan-American Medalist, UWW Sport & Development Officer, IOC Athlete365 Career+ Lead Educator, ACODEPA Sports Manager, emphasized the importance of establishing a strong online presence and improving communication through social media. AI expert Gabriela Muller provided insights into the intersection of leadership and AI in the digital space.

The forum concluded with a closing ceremony, expressing gratitude to participants, panelists, and experts. All participants were acknowledged for their active engagement and insightful contributions, leaving them empowered and ready to tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

The UWW Women in Wrestling Global Forum 2023 has undoubtedly served as a significant milestone in promoting gender equality, skill development, and leadership empowerment within the wrestling community. As the event wrapped up, the sense of accomplishment and readiness to face challenges marked the beginning of a new era for women making their mark in the world of wrestling.