#WrestleLondon

Five London 2012 Events to Have Medals, Diplomas Reallocated

By United World Wrestling Press

Earlier today, the International Olympic Committee announced the updated list of placements from the 120kg bracket at the '12 London Olympic Games. The article, which was posted on www.olympics.org, laid out the top eight finishers after the removal of Artur TAYMAZOV (UZB) and Davit MODZMANASHVILI (GEO).

The decision was taken during today’s meeting of the International Olympic Committee Executive Board, following the previous disqualification of a number of athletes and the results of their events being adjusted accordingly by the International Federations involved.

The reallocations concern five events in three sports.

See the new rankings for these events below:

Olympic Games London 2012 - Wrestling – Men’s Freestyle 120kg

The following athletes have been disqualified from this event:
- Artur TAYMAZOV (UZB – 1st place, gold medal), by the IOC Disciplinary Commission in the decision dated 17 July 2019. 
- Davit MODZMANASHVILI (GEO – 2nd place, silver medal), by the IOC Disciplinary Commission in the decision dated 16 January 2019

Therefore, the new ranking for the athletes placed from first to eighth is as follows: 

1. Komeil GHASEMI (IRI) 
1. Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS)*
3. Daulet SHABANBAY (KAZ) 
3. Tervel Ivaylov DLAGNEV (USA) 
5. Chuluunbat JARGALSAIKHAN (MGL) 
6. Aleksei SHEMAROV (BLR) 
7. Taha AKGUL (TUR) 
8. Rares Daniel CHINTOAN (ROU)

*Additional Information

The reallocation of the medals, diplomas and medallist pins can be undertaken provided that the athletes concerned are not currently under suspension for an ADRV and/or no anti-doping proceedings are currently initiated against them.

Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) is currently suspended for an ADRV until 27 January 2024. 

No immediate arrangements will  be made to present the gold medal to this athlete before the end of his suspension.

Athletics and canoeing also saw medals, diplomas and medallist pins reallocated. To read the full release, visit www.olympics.org.

#UWWAwards

UWW's 2024 Wrestlers of the Year: Petriashvili, Tosun, Kusaka

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 16) -- United World Wrestling has announced the wrestlers of the year in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman. UWW’s 2024 Wrestler of the Year award winners are Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Buse TOSUN (TUR) and Nao KUSAKA (JPN).

Freestyle: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO)

The 30-year-old Georgian finished with a style-best 68,200 Ranking Series points through his finishes at the four point-based events of the year -- Olympic Games, European Championships, Croatian and Hungarian Ranking Series -- in which he collected a 13-4 record with 8 wins coming against top 20 ranked opponents.

Petriashvili’s 2024 season didn’t start well, as he finished in fifth place with a 3-2 record at the Croatian Ranking Series. This marked Petriashvili’s sixth consecutive full season in which he started on a losing note before regaining focus and peaking at the most opportune times.

In his next outing, Petriashvili scored three wins before reaching the European finals for the seventh time in his career. However, he fell short against career rival Taha AKGUL (TUR) for silver.

The three-time world champion then went to Hungary for the final tune-up before the Paris Olympics. While at the second Ranking Series event of the year, Petriashvili grabbed three wins, but not before falling to Yusup BATIRMURZAEV (KAZ) in the semifinals while nursing a left elbow injury.

Petriashvili headed to Paris hungry to improve his 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medal. The father of two did exactly that, picking up four victories including a 10-9 shock win over two-time reigning world champion Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI), becoming Georgia’s third-ever freestyle Olympic gold medalist.
 
Greco-Roman: Nao KUSAKA (JPN)

23-year-old Nao KUSAKA (JPN), finished with a Greco-Roman best 79,200 Ranking Series points after winning golds at the Olympics, Asian Championships, and Hungarian Ranking Series events while also winning a bronze at the Croatian Ranking Series event at the beginning of the season.

After falling in the semifinals of his first competition of the year, Kusaka rallied off 14 consecutive victories -- four of which came against former world champions Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR), Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA), Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) and Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) -- on his way to winning golds in Paris, Bishkek and Budapest.

Kusaka’s win in Paris at 77kg, alongside his fellow teammate Kenichiro FUMITA’s gold, ended Japan’s 40-year Greco-Roman Olympic gold-medal drought.

Women's Wrestling: Buse TOSUN (TUR)

Buse TOSUN (TUR) is UWW’s Women’s wrestler of the year after topping the rankings with a style best 60,200 points. She narrowly edged Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) by 200 points for the coveted award.

Tosun, the reigning world champion at 68kg, finished 2024 with an impressive 11-2 record. Of those 11 wins during the season, a staggering eight came against wrestlers in the top 15 of the world rankings.

She dropped her first match of the season to Feng ZHOU (CHN) but went on to win 11 of her remaining 12 bouts, falling only at the Paris Olympics to eventual champion Amit ELOR (USA), en route to winning an Olympic bronze which was just Turkiye's second-ever women’s wrestling Olympic medal.

United World Wrestling congratulates Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO), Nao KUSAKA (JPN), and Buse TOSUN (TUR) for their incredible achievements this year and for being named the 2024 Wrestlers of the Year.