#UnitedWorldWrestling

Dittmann re-elected as European Council President

By United World Wrestling Press

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (April 6) — Karl Martin DITTMANN was re-elected as the President of the European Council at the election held Sunday on the sidelines of the European Championships in Bratislava.

The elections were held for the Executive Committee of the UWW-European Council for seven members and 11 nominations were received for the same. Four members were re-elected while three new members were added after they won the majority vote of at least 17 from total votes of 33.

Four re-elected members:

Razvan PIRCALABU (ROU)
Csilla ALI (HUN)
Karl-Martin DITTMANN (GER)
Georgy BRYUSOV (RUS)

Three newly elected members are:

Yusif ABBASOV (SRB)
Edisher MACHAIDZE (GEO)
Salvatore FINIZIO (ITA)

Pircalabu was also re-elected as the Vice-President and so was Ali who was re-elected as the Secretary of the council.

Onder YAKSI (TUR), who was the member of the European Council, was approved to be the co-opted member of the council at the general assembly.

#GrecoRoman

'Thank you, wrestling': Tokyo Olympic medalist Elsayed, 27, retires

By Vinay Siwach

EGYPT (July 14) -- Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) has announced his retirement from wrestling, concluding a distinguished career that included two Olympic appearances and two world U23 gold medals.

Elsayed posted on Instagram about his struggles with injuries and shared that the decision to retire was the "most difficult" for the 27-year-old wrestler.

"After many years of hard work, challenges, and victories [and] after I honored my country and raised its flag in internationally, and was able to achieve my dream and win an Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, I have reached the most difficult decision in my sports career.  I have decided to officially announce my retirement," Elsayed wrote in an emotional post.

Having won five gold medals at the African Championships, Elsayed was a trailblazer in Greco-Roman and was Egypt's new-found hope for the Olympics. He did not disappoint in Tokyo, where he had a surprising run to the semifinal, which he lost to Parviz NASIBOV (UKR), 7-6.

He bounced back in the bronze-medal bout and defeated Artem SURKOV (ROC), 1-1 to capture bronze, Egypt's first medal since 2012 London Olympics and only the third since 1960.

"Wrestling has always been more than just a sport to me," he wrote. "It was my life, my passion, and my support in the most difficult times. I thank God for every moment I lived on the mat and every moment of pride, and every encouragement I heard from my family, fans, and country."

One of the biggest achievements of Elsayed, apart from the Olympic medal, was winning successive world U23 gold medals in 2018 and 2019 at 67kg.

Elsayed expressed gratitude to various individuals who supported him throughout the journey including coaches and trainers. He also thanked wrestling.

"I thank every coach who helped me, every colleague who stood by me, and everyone who supported me with a kind word or a prayer from the heart. Thank you to everyone who was part of the journey.

"Thank you to wrestling, which taught me to be a man before being a champion."