Development

Financial Assistance Programs Boost Wrestling Nations in Olympic Year

Tuesday, June 1, 2021 - 11:07 By United World Wrestling Press

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Augusto MIDANA (GBS) qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games after receiving financial assistance to attend the qualification event in Tunisia. (Photo: UWW)

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 1) -- As the COVID pandemic swept the globe and impacted lives and economies worldwide, United World Wrestling - led by president Nenad Lalovic and the UWW bureau - worked to create financial opportunities for small, heavily affected nations keen to continue in their Olympic journey even as financial opportunities dwindled.
 
In addition to existing programming, Lalovic and the bureau settled on direct assistance to support athletes and coaches in their quest to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Utilizing its established Technical Assistance program, UWW supported 121 athletes and coaches from 43 nations.

"We were determined to assist all our national associations and stay united through the most difficult challenges," said Lalovic. "These past 16 months have tested our resilience, but we've stayed united as a family and through the efforts delivered by the UWW Development Team, we saw great buy-in and five athletes who were able to qualify."
Georgios PILIDIS

Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) qualified during the World Olympic Qualifier in Sofia. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

Of the recipients, five athletes successfully qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games via the program:

Augusto Midana (GBS) -- FS 74, African Olympic Qualifier
Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) -- GR 60, Asian Olympic Qualifier
BAT-OCHIR Bolortuya (MGL) -- WW 53, World Olympic Qualifier
Georgios PILIDIS (GRE) -- FS 65, World Olympic Qualifier
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) -- GR 67, World Olympic Qualifier

In addition to funds provided directly from UWW, the IOC also entered as a collaborator, under its ‘Youth Athlete Development, International Federation Training Opportunities’, which was built to support smaller NOCs in sending their teams to Continental Qualifications.

The total cost for the training assistance was EUR 180’000, with 40’000 to be reimbursed by Olympic Solidarity.

"The qualifications were burdensome on the athletes," said Deqa Niamkey, UWW Director of Development. "They faced uncertainty in their training routines, issues with travel, and of course their own experiences with the impact from COVID. But as we know, wrestlers are tough and always find a way to get the job done!"
Aker AL OBAIDI (AUT)

Aker AL OBAIDI (UWW) was a member of the refugee team funded by United World Wrestling that traveled to various qualification events. (Photo: Kadir Caliskan)

In addition to the OS program UWW's development department oversaw a myriad of success stories during Olympic qualification with UWW Africa, referee scholarships, female coach support and refugee athlete support all making an impact.

UWW African Center qualified four of its nine fully supported athletes at the Africa/Oceania Olympic Games qualifier in Tunisia. 

While they fell short of Olympic qualifications, logistical support was provided to Aker AL OBAIDI (who resides in Austria) and Amir ALAWAD (who resides in Egypt) to attend Olympic Game Qualification events under the flag of the UWW Refugee team.

The referee scholarship program was utilized to send Demetra KOUTSOPODIOTIS-GAUTHIER (CAN) to the World OG Qualifier in Sofia, while UWW also sent Van Zyl Esta (RSA) - one of the scholarship holders of the Women's Sport Leadership Academy for High Performance Coaches Program - to the African/Oceania OG qualifier as a coach.

Wrestling at the 2021 Olympic Games will be August 1-7 at the Makhuari Messe Arena in Tokyo.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open: Ozaki, Morikawa Mark Golden Return to Olympic Weights

Saturday, February 7, 2026 - 00:43 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (February 7) -- Just four months ago, Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) came to Zagreb as a training partner with Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) at the World Championships.

While Morikawa won the gold medal, Ozaki cheered for her close friend, even writing messages for her on a small bandage that Morikawa put on her cheek.

Back then, Ozaki wished she could compete and become world champions together.

Not the World Championships, but Ozaki and Morikawa won gold medals at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event on Friday. Ozaki completed a dominant run to win the 62kg title while Morikawa had a bumpy ride to the 68kg gold medal, a weight class above 65kg in which she won the world gold.

"We managed to win gold with the star of Physical Asia," Morikawa wrote on social media referring to a Netflix show in which Ozaki participated.

The two do not train at the same university in Japan but the closeness of their weight classes has allowed them to practice together whenever they get a chance, including being on international tours together.

They were two of the four Japanese wrestlers who won gold medals in Women's Wrestling, joining Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) at 59kg and Nana IKEHATA (JPN) at 65kg.

Greco-Roman also kicked off at the Zagreb Open, the season-opening Ranking Series event, and the world champion at 63kg Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) showed that he has adjusted to the Olympic weight class 67kg, winning gold.

Iran won gold at 63kg after Erfan JARKANI (IRI) defeated CHETAN (IND) in the final.

Ozaki began her day by securing a fall over Irina KUZNETSOVA (KAZ) after building a 12-2 lead, and then pinned Eniko ELEKES (HUN) in the second bout to book a spot in the semifinal.

It was in this bout that Ozaki faced her first struggles of the day against Macey KILTY (USA). Though she ultimately secured a 5-2 win, Ozaki gave up positions against the American wrestler. She would later admit that it was not easy to keep herself calm during the bout.

In the final against Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), a silver medalist from the European Championships, Ozaki scored four different takedowns and looked in complete control. With the 8-0 win, Ozaki won her first Ranking Series gold medal.

Ozaki won the world title at 65kg in 2023 but was a phenom at 62kg when she emerged on the international scene in 2022. But after a slump in form both in Japan and internationally, she missed out on making the Japan team for the 2023 World Championships at 62kg.

However, with Ami ISHII (JPN) qualifying Japan for the 2024 Paris Games without winning a medal opened a door for Ozaki to be at the Olympics.

Ozaki set out on a daunting task of moving to 68kg and not only did she defeat Ishii while being underweight, she managed to win a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

Soon after, she decided to move back to 62kg but suffered two back-to-back heartbreaking losses to Olympic champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) and failed to make the 2025 world team.

It turned around at the Emperor's Cup in December 2025 as Ozaki avenged her loss to Motoki and earned the right to participate in the Zagreb Open and Asian Championships in April.

Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) scores a takedown on Nesrin BAS (TUR) during the 68kg final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Morikawa, who also moved to 68kg after winning gold at 65kg at the World Championships in 2025, had a hiccup in the final, but managed to get the gold medal against Nesrin BAS (TUR).

The two-time world champion captured her third Ranking Series gold medal and first since 2018 but not before having a tough time on the mat. She began with an 11-0 win over Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU) and then a 10-0 technical superiority over Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW).

While the fall over Aleah NICKEL (CAN) in the semifinals was dominant, Morikawa did show some signs of discomfort. That showed up in the final against Bas as Morikawa fell behind 2-0 in the first period. She managed to score a point before the break and cut the lead to 2-1.

Morikawa found a way to score two takedowns in the second period to take a 5-2 lead to capture the gold medal at 68kg.

Bas, who was at the Paris Olympics at 62kg but won world silver medal in 2025 at 72kg, was another wrestler trying to adjust to a new weight class. Her biggest test came in the semifinal against Olympic silver medalist Kennedy BLADES (USA).

Blades led 1-0 at the end of the first period but  Bas seemed unfazed. The American was put on the shot clock in the second period and after 30-second activity time exchanged, Bas took a 1-1 criteria lead. Bas also got a point for stepout to make it 2-1.

 

She then defended the lead until the end of the time to claim a victory over Blades and a spot in the final against Morikawa. Bas is likely to continue at the weight and the silver medal in Zagreb will be a huge boost for her going forward.

Khalmakhanov adjusts to 67kg

Another star wrestler shifting to an Olympic weight class was 63kg world champion Khalmakhanov and he performed strongly at 67kg. His first battle came in the semifinal when he faced Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN).

But an arm-throw and turn gave him a 6-0 lead against Sogabe who got a few stepouts in the bout. Khalmakhanov scored two correct throws to add four more points in the bout and got one point for a lost challenge to win 11-5.

From the other side of the bracket, Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO) made it to the final after beating Katsuaki ENDO (JPN), 11-3, in the semifinals.

For the gold medal, Khalmakhanov and Chkhikvadze were matched evenly. While the scoreline points to a low-scoring bout, both wrestlers left it all on the mat.

Chkhikvadze was the first to get par terre but he failed to score any more points from the position and led 1-0 at the break. Khalmakhanov also got a point for the par terre position in the second period but Chkhikvadze held criteria.

The Georgian managed to score a stepout to extend his lead to a clear 2-1 score. But as the bout grew in intensity, it was Chkhikvadze who suffered, giving up a stepout with less than 30 seconds left.

With the score at 2-2, Khalmakhanov held criteria for the last point scored. He managed to hold his lead and won the gold medal in Zagreb, thus making a smooth transition to the Olympic weight class, three months after winning bronze at the Islamic Solidarity Games at 67kg.

RESULTS

Women's Wrestling

59kg
GOLD: Sena NAGAMOTO (JPN) df. Alexis JANIAK (USA), 10-0

BRONZE: Elena BRUGGER (GER) df. Hiunai HURBANOVA (AZE), via fall (7-0)
BRONZE: Abigail NETTE (USA) df. Iris SLATKA (CRO), via fall (10-0)

62kg
GOLD: Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) df. Johanna LINDBORG (SWE), 8-0

BRONZE: Macey KILTY (USA) df. Eniko ELEKES (HUN), via fall
BRONZE: ANJLI (IND) df. Bhagyashree FAND (IND), 5-4

65kg
GOLD: Nana IKEHATA (JPN)
SILVER: PULKIT (IND)
BRONZE: Kriszta INCZE (ROU)

68kg
GOLD: Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) df. Nesrin BAS (TUR), 5-2

BRONZE: NISHA (IND) df. Kennedy BLADES (USA), via inj. def. 
BRONZE: Alina SHEVCHENKO (UWW) df. Aleah NICKEL (CAN), 9-0

Greco-Roman

63kg
GOLD:  Erfan JARKANI (IRI) df. CHETAN (IND), 8-4

BRONZE: Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA) df. Khusniddin OLIMBOEV (UZB), 6-1
BRONZE: Meysam DALKHANI (IRI) df. Dastan ZARLYKHANOV (KAZ), 8-0

67kg
GOLD: Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB) df. Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO), 2-2

BRONZE: Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN) df. Valentin PETIC (MDA), 5-0
BRONZE: Katsuaki ENDO (JPN) df. Mahmoud KAMALI (IRI), 3-2