#WrestleRome

Four World Champions to be Featured in Friday's WW Finals

Thursday, February 13, 2020 - 20:23 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

ROME, Italy (February 13) --- Friday night’s European finals will feature a loaded cast of four world champions who are looking to add a continental gold medal to their resumes. Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR), Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR), Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) and Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) scored decisive semifinal wins and will compete in Friday night’s European finals.

Trazhukova, the reigning 65kg world champion, will square off with 2014 world champion Tkach Ostapchuk in the 62kg finals.

In her first appearance down at 62kg, Trazhukova toppled Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) in a semifinal battle between fellow world champions. She scored six unanswered points in the second period and stole Yusein’s shot at reaching the European finals for a fourth consecutive year.

Trazhukova will wrestle Tkach Ostapchuk in a second straight match against a former world champion.

Tkach Ostapchuk ousted Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE), 4-0, and inserted herself into the European finals for the sixth time. The reigning European Games champion owns a 3-2 European finals record heading into the Friday night gold-medal match.

Tkach Ostapchuk European Finals 
2011 – European Championship: Gold 
2012 – European Championship: Gold 
2015 – European Games: Silver 
2016 – European Championship: Silver
2019 – European Championship: Gold 

Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) beat a pair of reigning European champions on her way to the 53kg finals. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Vanesa Kaladzinskaya beat two reigning European champions and a European bronze medalist on her road to the finals. She’ll square off with Jessica BLASZKA (NED) for the 53kg gold medal.

Kaladzinskaya avenged her 2019 European loss against eventual European champion, Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS), in her opening match. She added a second win over a reigning European champion with a 2-2 criteria win over Iryna HUSYAK (UKR). 

In the semifinals, Kaladzinskaya cruised to an 8-3 win over 2019 European bronze medalist, Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL). 

Kaladzinskaya scored early in the opening period with an outside high crotch, then transitioned into a trapped arm gut. She stopped an arm throw attempt and picked up two exposure points and led 6-0. Kaladzinskaya grabbed her second takedown of the bout and commanded the 8-1 lead after conceding a stepout point. She surrendered a takedown (throw by), which cut her lead to five points, but closed out the match with an 8-3 victory and reached the European finals for the third time in her career. 

Kaladzinskaya will battle Jessica Bladzka with an opportunity to win her second European title and first since 2017. Blaszka defeated Annika WENDLE (GER), 2-1, in the semifinals and became the first women’s wrestler from the Netherlands to reach the European gold medal match.

Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS), a London Olympic champion, will wrestle Maria SELMAIER (GER) in the 72kg European finals on Friday night. (Photo: Gabor Martin) 

Natalia Vorobeva is the fourth world champion that's featured in Friday’s finals.

Vorobeva, the London Olympic champion, dumped Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR) to her back early in the first period and controlled the 4-0 lead. She gave up two points late in the second period and held on to reach the European finals for the third time with the 4-2 vicotry.

She’ll meet Maria SELMAIER (GER) on Friday night in the 72kg gold-medal match. Selemair cruised to an 8-3 win over Catalina AXENTE (ROU) and will make her first appearance in the continental finals. 

Bullen Looking to Become Norway’s First Two-Time European Champion
Grace BULLEN (NOR) shutout European Games champion Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), 2-0, in the 57kg semifinals, and is one win away from becoming the first Norwegian woman to win two European titles. She won her first title at the 2017 European Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Bullen, a 2018 U23 world champion, will wrestle Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) in the 57kg gold-medal match. 

Akobiia bulldozed Marina SIMONYAN (RUS) for the fall and locked up her finals spot against Bullen. The Ukranian trailed 3-0 but scored eight unanswered points against her Russian opponent before scoring the fall in the second period. 

Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) will try to become the only 2019 European champion to repeat as a gold-medal winner. (Photo: Gabor Martin)

Manolova One Match Away from Defending European Title 
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) will have a shot at doing what the other three reigning champions couldn’t do on Thursday night – defend their 2019 European crowns. 

Manolova cruised to a 7-3 win over Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS), and with a win on Friday night, will be the first 2019 champion to defend her title.

She’ll wrestle Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) in the 65kg finals. Hristova, the two-time European finalist, handled Kriszta INCZE (ROU), 5-1, in their semifinals match. She’ll try to claim her first continental title after dropping the 2019 and ’18 gold-medal matches.

RESULTS 
53kg
GOLD - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) vs. - Jessica Cornelia BLASZKA (NED)
SEMIFINAL - Jessica Cornelia BLASZKA (NED) df. Annika WENDLE (GER), 2-1 
SEMIFINAL - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Katarzyna KRAWCZYK (POL), 8-3 

57kg 
GOLD - Grace BULLEN (NOR) vs. Alina AKOBIIA (UKR)
SEMIFINAL - Grace BULLEN (NOR) df. Iryna KURACHKINA (BLR), 2-0 
SEMIFINAL - Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) df. Marina SIMONYAN (RUS), via fall

62kg
GOLD - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) vs. Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS)
SEMIFINAL - Yuliia TKACH OSTAPCHUK (UKR) df. Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE), 4-0
SEMIFINAL - Inna TRAZHUKOVA (RUS) df. Taybe YUSEIN (BUL), 7-4

65kg
GOLD - Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) vs. Mimi Nikolova HRISTOVA (BUL)
SEMIFINAL - Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) df. Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS), 7-3
SEMIFINAL - Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL) df. Kriszta INCZE (ROU), 5-1

72kg
GOLD - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) vs. Maria SELMAIER (GER)
SEMIFINAL - Maria SELMAIER (GER) df. Catalina AXENTE (ROU), 8-3 
SEMIFINAL - Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) df. Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR), 4-2

#WrestleAthens

Olympic legend Icho returns to Athens to lead Japan’s next generation

Sunday, August 3, 2025 - 09:59 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ATHENS, Greece (August 2) -- In Athens, home of the Olympics, Kaori ICHO (JPN) is already one of the pantheon of greats.

Having once made history as an athlete here -- winning the first of four Olympic gold medals at the 2004 Olympics -- Icho now sets out to carve a new legacy, this time as coach to the next generation of Japanese talent.

In Athens, she is making her international debut as coach of the Japanese women's team at the World U17 Championships as she returns to the Ano Liossia Olympic Sports Hall, the same venue she won the Olympic gold.

"I have returned to this arena for the first time in 21 years," Icho told United World Wrestling. "I won an [Olympic] gold medal in this arena for the first time."

Icho, who ended her wrestling career in 2019, started coaching after the Tokyo Olympics. She has coached Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN) domestically as both Morikawa and Icho are recruited with ALSOK.

Japan managed to win only one gold medal in Women's Wrestling at the World Championships and finished third in the team race. While Japan is not used to finishing at that position in Women's Wrestling, the third-place highlighted that even Japan's second-tier team poses a significant challenge to the world.

The presence of Icho definitely helped the wrestlers, who were not only helped by her experience but the presence of the four-time Olympic champion motivated them.

Japan's world champion in Athens, Hanano OYA (JPN), said that watching Icho win her record fourth gold medal in Rio 2016 inspired her to take up wrestling.

"The reason I started wrestling was because of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics," Oya said. "It was when Kaori achieved her fourth consecutive victory, and I saw it on TV. I started wrestling myself, so I was very happy when she accompanied me and acted as my second coach, and I felt that I had to live up to her expectations."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) coaches one of the members of the Japanese team. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

For Icho, not being on the mat and coaching from the corner was a different experience.

"I feel really strange being able to come back here as a coach," she said. "This tournament is the World Championships for those under 17 years old. I also became an Olympic gold medalist at this venue when I was 20 and I hope that the young athletes will work hard towards their Olympic dreams."

Back in 2004, the first Olympics when Women's Wrestling became part of it, Icho remembered the nervous and the excitement. The enjoyment, however, came only after she had won the gold.

"It was my first Olympics," she said. "I was very nervous and excited. I was here for about two weeks, from the opening ceremony to the closing ceremony. After winning, I went swimming in the Aegean Sea. It was a very enjoyable Olympics."

Kaori ICHO (JPN)Kaori ICHO (JPN) during a warm-up session of the Japanese team in Athens. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

When she landed at the airport in Athens on Monday, memories from the past came rushing back.

"I don't particularly feel it at the airport, but I wondered if it was this hot," she said. "I wondered what the venue will be like. I was reminiscing about 21 years ago."

Once at the venue, Icho was requested for photos from wrestlers and coaches which she obliged. With her first tournament as coach behind her, Icho is determined to work even harder as she prepares the senior Japan team for the World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, this September.

"Coaches and players asked me to take pictures with them," she said. "I felt stronger coming here. I want to work harder as a coach."