#UWWAwards

'21 Breakthrough Performances of the Year: Geraei, Zare and Focken

By Eric Olanowski

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 7) -- Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI), Amir ZARE (IRI) and Aline FOCKEN (GER) have been named United World Wrestling’s Breakthrough Performance of the Year award winners.

Geraei came into 2021 without having a world or Olympic medal on his resume. The 25-year-old, known as ‘The Iceman,’ defied all expectations and claimed Olympic gold in Tokyo and closed out his improbable ’21 campaign with a world-title run in Oslo.

Zare, at just 20-year-old, had a colossal year. He collected an Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo before upsetting three-time world champ Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Olympic gold medalist Taha AKGUL (TUR) en route to gaining heavyweight supremacy at the Oslo World Championships.

Aline Focken picked the perfect time to retire. After missing out on the ’12 London Olympic Games and a ninth-place outing in Rio, the 12-year-veteran ended her career with an upset victory over five-time world champion Adeline GRAY (USA) in the 76kg Olympic finals.

#WrestleCaorle

Watch Live: 2025 European U20 Championships, Italy

By United World Wrestling Press

CAORLE, Italy (June 30) — The European U20 Championships begins in Caorle, Italy on Monday, June 30 and will run till July 6 with close to 500 wrestling fighting it out for the 30 gold medals on offer.

The tournament will kick off with Greco-Roman in five weight classes. Women’s Wrestling will begin Wednesday and Freestyle will close out the tournament.

For full schedule of European U20 Championships, click here.

WATCH LIVE: MAT A, MAT B and MAT C

For live match order of the day, click here.

For brackets of Greco-Roman, Freestyle and Women’s Wrestling, click here.

The qualification rounds will begin at 1000 hours local time and medal bouts will begin at 1800 hours local time. The semifinals will be held at 1645 hours each day barring Monday, on which the semifinals will start at 1800 hours as there no medal bouts.

For all results, click here.

For all photos, click here.