Which nations have qualified in Greco-Roman for Paris Olympics

Friday, May 3, 2024 - 12:24 By Eric Olanowski

PARIS, France (May 3) -- The ultra-competitive and uber-emotional final stage of the Paris Olympic Qualifiers is set to take place in Istanbul, Turkiye, May 9-12.

After next week’s Battle on the Bosporus -- which is the sixth and final event on the Olympic qualification calendar -- all 288 tickets to Paris 2024 will be booked and the nations wrestling in Paris will be set.

Breakdown of quotas allocations for Paris 2024:
- World Championships = 30 freestyle, 30 women’s wrestling and 30 Greco-Roman = 90 quotas
- Continental Olympic Qualifiers (x4 continents) = 12 freestyle, 12 women’s wrestling and 12 Greco-Roman = 36
- World Olympic Qualifier = 18 freestyle, 18 women’s wrestling and 18 Greco-Roman = 54
- Total = 96 freestyle, 96 women’s wrestling and 96 Greco-Roman = 288 wrestlers in Paris

It’s worth noting, and as you’ll see below, the induvial wrestler who earns the ticket to the Olympic Games does not own the right to compete in Pairs. Ultimately, it’s the National Olympic Committee / country who selects their entry for the Games.

For example: David TAYLOR (USA), through his world-title winning performance in Belgrade, punched the United States’ ticket at 86kg. But after going through their Olympic Trails, and with Taylor falling in the finals, the Stars and Stripes will send Aaron BROOKS (USA) to Paris at 86kg.

Over the last 290 days, wrestles have gone through two of three stages vying for their opportunity to earn their nation’s berth to Pairs.

The beginning stages of the qualification process took place last September at the 2023 World Championships, in Belgrade, Serbia, where there was a total of 90 quotas up for the taking. Wrestlers who won a medal--gold, silver or bronze (x2)-- earned a ticket for their country.

Additionally, the two losers of the bronze-medal matches faced off in an Olympic playoff match, determining the fifth allocation in Belgrade.

Then came the Continental Olympic Qualifiers, where 36 quotas per continent were handed out.

Those athletes who reached the finals of their respective weight classes at the Pan-American, African & Oceania, European and Asian Olympic Qualifiers booked their nation’s ticket to Paris.

Now, after traveling through Belgrade, Acapulco, Alexandria, Baku and Bishkek, we’ve reached Istanbul for the “Last Chance Qualifier.”

There will be a slight adjustment to the number of allocations given in Istanbul, where in addition to the finalists earning berths to Paris, there will be an Olympic playoff between the winners of the bronze-medal matches to determine the final entries for the Olympic Games.

The draws for the World Olympic Qualifier will take place on May 8, with wrestling beginning the following day. Greco-Roman will compete live on UWW+ on May 9-10, women’s wrestling on May 10-11 and freestyle on May 11-12.

Here are the Greco-Roman nations that have qualified for the Paris Olympics before the start of the World Olympic Qualifier (May 9-12).

60kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV)
Japan (Kenichiro FUMITA)
China (Liguo CAO)
Uzbekistan (Islomjon BAKHRAMOV)
Iran (Mehdi MOHSEN NEJAD)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Venezuela (Raiber RODRIGUEZ)
Cuba (Kevin DE ARMAS)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Abdelkarim FERGAT)
Egypt (Moamen MOHAMED)

From European OG Qualifier
Moldova (Victor CIOBANU)
Turkiye (Enes BASAR)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Aidos SULTANGALI)
DPR Korea (Se Ung RI)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Sadyk LALAEV as Individual Neutral Athlete
Azerbaijan (Murad MAMMADOV)
Serbia (Georgij TIBILOV)

67kg
From World Championships
Cuba (Luis ORTA)
Azerbaijan (Hasrat JAFAROV)
Iran (Mohammadreza GERAEI)
Serbia (Mate NEMES)
Armenia (Slavik GALSTYAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Chile (Nestor ALMANZA)
Ecuador (Andres MONTANO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Tunisia (Souleymen NASR)
Algeria (Ishak GHAIOU)

From European OG Qualifier
Ukraine (Parviz NASIBOV)
France (Mamadassa SYLLA)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Japan (Kyotaro SOGABE)
Kyrgyzstan (Amantur ISMAILOV)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Moldova (Valentin PETIC)
Georgia (Ramaz ZOIDZE)
Egypt (Mohamed ELSAYED)

77kg
From World Championships
Kyrgyzstan (Akzhol MAKHMUDOV)
Azerbaijan (Sanan SULEYMANOV)
Armenia (Malkhas AMOYAN)
Japan (Nao KUSAKA)
Uzbekistan (Aram VARDANYAN)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Cuba (Yosvanys PENA)
Colombia (Jair CUERO)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Abd Elkrim OUAKALI)
Egypt (Mahmoud ABDELRAHMAN)

From European OG Qualifier
Turkiye (Burhan AKBUDAK)
Finland (Jonni SARKKINEN)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Demeu ZHADRAYEV)
Iran (Amin KAVIYANI)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Sergei KUTUZOV as Individual Neutral Athlete
Bulgaria (Aik MNATSAKANIAN)
Hungary (Zoltan LEVAI)

87kg
From World Championships
Turkiye (Ali CENGIZ)
Hungary (David LOSONCZI)
Ukraine (Zhan BELENIUK)
Bulgaria (Semen NOVIKOV)
Kazakhstan (Nursultan TURSYNOV)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Spencer WOODS)
Colombia (Carlos MUNOZ)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Bachir SID AZARA)
Egypt (Mohamed METWALLY)

From European OG Qualifier
Serbia (Aleksandr KOMAROV)
Milad ALIRZAEV as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Iran (Alireza MOHAMDIPIANI)
China (Haitao QIAN)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Azerbaijan (Rafig HUSEYNOV)
Kiryl MASKEVICH as Individual Neutral Athlete
Poland (Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ)

97kg
From World Championships
Cuba (Gabriel ROSILLO)
Armenia (Artur ALEKSANYAN)
Iran (Mohammadhadi SARAVI)
Czech Republic (Artur OMAROV)
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
Honduras (Kevin MEJIA)
United States (Alan VERA GARCIA)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Algeria (Fadi ROUABAH)
Egypt (Mohamed GABR)

From European OG Qualifier
Georgia (Roberti KOBLIASHVILI)
Lithuania (Mindaugas VENCKAITIS)

From Asian OG Qualifier
Uzbekistan (Rustam ASSAKALOV)
Korea (Seungjun KIM)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Finaland (Arvi SAVOLAINEN)
Artur SARGSIAN as Individual Neutral Athlete
Kyrgyzstan (Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV)

130kg
From World Championships
Iran (Amin MIRZAZADEH)
Turkiye (Riza KAYAALP)
Cuba (Oscar PINO)
Egypt (Adellatif MOHAMED)
China (Lingzhe MENG)

From Pan-Am OG Qualifier
United States (Cohlton SCHULTZ)
Chile (Yasmani ACOSTA)

From African & Oceania OG Qualifier
Tunisia (Amine GUENNICHI)
Morocco (Oussama ASSAD)

From European OG Qualifier
Germany (Jello KRAHMER)
Sergei SEMENOV as Individual Neutral Athlete

From Asian OG Qualifier
Kazakhstan (Alimkhan SYZDYKOV)
Korea (Seungchan LEE)

From World Olympic Qualifier
Romania (Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU)
Azerbaijan (Sabah SHARIATI)
Pavel HLINCHUK as Individual Neutral Athlete

#JapanWrestling

Gomi Takes Big Strides as Japan’s Next Greco-Roman Hope

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 13:33 By Vinay Siwach

JAPAN (February 18) -- Koto GOMI (JPN) has been racking up titles in recent times. Last year, he won the U23 world title, the first for Japan in six years. He then won the All-Japan Championships gold in December for the first time.

Making his senior debut in 2026, the 21-year-old had an extraordinary run at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event, winning the 60kg gold medal and giving up only three points in four bouts. In the final, Gomi defeated world silver medalist Alisher GANIEV (UZB), 10-0, using three arm-throws to secure the victory inside the first period.

Koto GOMI (JPN) defeated Alisher GANIEV (UZB) in the Zagreb Open final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

While it may be too early to call Gomi a protégé, he may have already ended Japan's search for a new star at 60kg and a replacement for Olympic champion Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN).

The 30-year-old Fumita is a two-time world champion and won silver at the 2023 World Championships. A silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, he turned it into gold at Paris 2024.

But Fumita has not stepped on the mat since. He took time off and was entered in the All-Japan Championships at 63kg, but later pulled out. Though he did not mention it, most in Japan cite weight-cut issues for his delayed return.

That leaves Yu SHIOTANI (JPN), Kaito INABA (JPN) and Gomi as the front-runners for the spot if Fumita cannot make it. Gomi pinned Shiotani and then beat Inaba via technical superiority at the National Sports Festival in October.

Two months later in December, he again beat Shiotani to earn a spot on Japan’s Asian Championships team.

Koto GOMI (JPN), left, after winning the All-Japan University Championships. (Photo: Koto Gomi / Instagram)

Early start

Gomi was born in the Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo. The prefecture has given wrestling some of its biggest stars including Olympic champions Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and Tatsuhiro YONEMITSU (JPN).

He was introduced to wrestling by his father Joe, a kickboxer. Joe would take his eldest son Koto to far away tournaments to compete. Though the results were not always satisfying, Shiro wanted his son to face high-level competition every year.

"Wrestling has few injuries," he was quoted as saying by Japan Wrestling Federation in 2010. "It's a sport that develops physical ability and trains both the body and mind. I think it's the perfect martial art for children.

"It's a sport where older students take care of younger students. They naturally take care of you without you having to teach them."

It's true in Gomi's case. Like Gomi, both Fumita and Inaba hail from the same prefecture and attended the same high school.

Fumita's father, Toshiro, introduced most wrestlers to Greco in their high school. While Fumita and Inaba moved to Nippon Sports Science University, Gomi is at the Ikuei University, same as the world and Olympic champions in women's Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) and Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN).

Koto GOMI (JPN), blue, at the 2022 U20 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Gomi began competing exclusively in Greco-Roman around 2022 but did not get satisfactory results internationally, finishing fifth and ninth at the two U20 World Championships.

In one of the memorable matches early in his career, Gomi had troubled the now Olympic Saied ESMAEILI (IRI). At the 2022 U20 Worlds, he was led 6-4 and then 9-4 at one point in the match against the Iranian but he lost it 13-9.

Two years later, Gomi emerged as a dominant force. He won the gold medal at the U20 Asian Championships and all age-group domestic competitions. His only losses came at the senior All-Japan Championships, winning bronze at three of them.

Gomi said his recent success was the result of years of hard work, particularly at university.

"I don't seem to be the athletic type, but rather a refreshing liberal arts type, and that's how I'm often seen," Gomi said. "I'm competitive. I get really annoyed and frustrated when I lose in practice. The hard work I've put in over the past four years at university is starting to show in the past year."

Domestic challenges

In 2025, Gomi suffered only one loss in five tournaments -- a 10-0 humiliation to Shiotani in May. But in December, he avenged that loss in the final of the All-Japan Championships and earned a chance to represent Japan at the 2026 Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in April.

The December win also put Gomi a step closer to the 2026 World Championships and Asian Games. He now has to win the Japan National Championships in May to qualify for both. If he fails to win, he will have a wrestle-off with the winner on the same day.

Both the U23 World Championships and the Zagreb Open showcased Gomi's technical excellence. He often uses a two-on-one to set up his arm-throws and arm-drags. It is his swiftness, rather than brute force, that allows him to complete his attacks.

In par terre, Gomi has an excellent high gut-wrench, which he used effectively against Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI) in Zagreb and Maxwell BLACK (USA) at the U23 Worlds.

"I'm starting to find my strengths, like in terms of technique, so I think that's a good thing," he said.

Despite his rapid rise, Gomi is cautious about calling himself the best yet. He knows he still needs to get past several domestic rivals before becoming Japan’s first-choice wrestler at 60kg.

"It's not like that, but I was conscious of focusing on my strengths and techniques and taking the initiative to attack," he said. "But, there are many other players in Japan, like Fumita and Inaba, and I don't think I can beat them yet, so I'll continue to practice hard."

But if Zagreb was any indication, it may not take long.

Which nations have qualified in Greco-Roman for Paris Olympics

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Gomi Takes Big Strides as Japan’s Next Greco-Roman Hope