#WrestleParis

Which nations have qualified in Greco-Roman for Paris Olympics

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

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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

#development

Poreč hosts 2023 Wrestling Festival

Sunday, June 11, 2023 - 14:24 By United World Wrestling Press

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POREC, Croatia (June 11) --- In a world where sport events have transcended their traditional boundaries, the Porec Wrestling Festival 2023 is set to revolutionize the wrestling scene. Supported by United World Wrestling (UWW) and set in a beautifu coastal resort in the Istria region in Croatia, this festival is much more than just a wrestling competition. 

Olympic Solidarity Technical Course for Coaches and Referees

The Olympic Solidarity Technical Course for Coaches and Referees was successfully conducted with the support of the Croatian National Olympic Committee and United World Wrestling. The courses took place May 24-28 at the Valamar Diamant Hotel in Poreč. It consisted of a Level 1 Coaching Course, led by the UWW-certified educator Gary MAYAAB (USA). The main focus of this course was to introduce coaching techniques and emphasize safety measures for young Croatian coaches.

Additionally, a five-day 'Introduction to Refereeing' course was conducted simultaneously. This course was led by Davor PETANJEK, a UWW-certified referee educator and UWW IS category referee from Croatia.

"The coaches were very knowledgeable and technically balanced in their skills," said Gary Mayabb.  Their experience level is high for being relatively young on average, the future of Croatian wrestling is bright/ They are smart, passionate and can articulate about "WHY" they coach."

Cro
Wrestlers were going big at the Wrestling Festival Tournament in Porec. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Adriatic Trophy & Wrestling Festival Tournament

The Adriatic Trophy (U20) and Wrestling Festival Tournament (U15 & U17) took place on May 27-28, providing a platform for over 300 Greco-Roman and women's wrestlers (U15, U17, and U20) to demonstrate their skills on a grand stage.

With the endorsement of United World Wrestling, this tournament ensured the highest level of competition, attracting top talent from various countries. It served as an inclusive platform for all wrestlers to showcase their abilities and shine. On tap to watch the action was Cuba's esteemed four-time Olympic Champion, Mijain LOPEZ NUNES.

CRO
Olympic champions Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) and Mijain Lopez drill together at the Greco-Roman training camp in Croatia. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

The International Training Camps (GR, WW)

One of the standout features of the 2023 Porec Wrestling Festival is UWW's incorporation of the women’s training camps to help athletes refine their techniques and tactical insights.

Traditionally, Croatia is known for its high-level Greco-Roman camps, regularly organized in Porec. From May 29th-June 2, Olympic bronze medalist Clarissa CHUN (USA) led a women’s training camp with 13 nations and over 100 women’s wrestling athletes 

‘Thanks to the support of UWW, this is the biggest women’s wrestling training camp Croatia has ever hosted, and we are determined to continuously grow women’s wrestling in the region,’ said Secretary General of the Croatian Wrestling Federation Tin BREGOVIC. "Majority of our women’s wrestlers are young, and this camp offered a great opportunity for them to learn from esteemed coaches and practice with other women athletes at their age to promote skill development. The combination of world-class coaches and international participants will undoubtedly lead to a significant boost in the overall wrestling landscape."

Edit DOZSA (ITA) also provided a session on women’s wrestling rules on May 30. Additionally, a Women's Wrestling Rules Game Night was organized in the evening to help reinforce the knowledge learned in a fun and competitive environment. The winners received Nike wrestling shoes.

A ‘Safeguarding Athletes’ session was also conducted for all participating athletes and coaches on June 1.

Seminars in Women’s Wrestling Development

Dr. Ms. Kuniko TANIOKA (JPN), Vice President of Japan Wrestling Federation, Chairperson and President of Shigakkan University, and Dr. Hideyuki GOTO (JPN), Professor, Club manager and Team Doctor of the Wrestling Club of Shigakkan University, along with Prof. Dr. SC. Mario Baić (CRO), Dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb led the educational seminars for the coaches and athletes, cantered on the areas of women’s wrestling injury prevention, nutrition and physical fitness preparation for elite wrestlers.   

The Porec Wrestling Festival was a great success, combing training sessions with educational seminars and allowing coaches and athletes from different nations to have an expert exchange platform. Combined with social events and excursions, the festival was truly a celebration of wrestling, helping to bring together top experts and athletes from the sport.