#Tokyo2020

Ecuador, Romania Earn Olympic Tickets as North Korea Withdraws from Tokyo 2020

By United World Wrestling Press

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea provided official notice that they won't be attending the Tokyo Games, thereby giving Ecuador and Romania additional Olympic allocations.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 15) -- Officials from The Democratic People's Republic of Korea have notified United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee that they will not be attending the Summer Olympics this year in Tokyo.

Due to their absence, North Korea's Olympic qualification allocations at 53kg and 62kg in women's wrestling must be reassigned according to the established United World Wrestling's Olympic qualification system.

The Olympic qualifications will now be allotted to Ecuador (53kg) and Romania (62kg).

Ecuador's Luisa VALVERDE MELENDRES, who finished seventh at the 2019 Wrestling World Championships in Nur-Sultan, will earn the award for her home nation as she was the next highest finisher at 53kg after the removal of world champion PAK Yong Mi (PRK).

At 62kg RIM Jong Sim (PRK) placed 6th at the world championships leaving Kriszta INCZE (ROU) as the next highest, non-qualified, finisher at the weight category. Wrestlers ahead of her from Ukraine and the United States later qualified at their respective continental qualification events.

Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games is set to begin August 1, 2021, at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo.

Obituary

Olympic champion Tediashvili passes away at 75

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (February 19) -- Two-time Olympic champion and United World Wrestling Hall of Fame wrestler Levan TEDIASHVILI passed away on Saturday. He was 75 years old.

Tediashvili won the Freestyle gold medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics and repeated as the Olympic champion at the 1976 Montreal Games. The two Olympic gold medals were won in 82kg and 90kg weight classes respectively.

Born on March 15, 1948, Tediashvili was a four-time world champion, winning the gold medal in 1971, 1973, 1974 and 1975. His world title and two Olympic medals resulted in him remaining unbeaten internationally from 1971 to 1977.

Levan TEDIASHVILI
Levan TEDIASHVILI

In 1978, he jumped to the 100kg weight class and won a silver medal at the World Championships that year. He also won European titles three times.

Georgia awarded him with Vakhtang Gorgasali First Degree Medal and the title of Honorary Citizen of Tbilisi. The wrestling legend was inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2005. He also acted in awarded winning films including Brighton 4th.

UWW mourns the passing of Tediashvili and expresses its deepest sympathies to the Tediashvili family.