#WrestleBudapest

LIVE BLOG: European Olympic Qualifier, Day Four

By Eric Olanowski

BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 20) --- The fourth and final day of wrestling at the #WrestleBudapest European Olympic Qualifier gets underway at 18:00 (local time).

19:10: That'll do it for our coverage of the European Olympic Qualifier. Congratulations to everyone who helped their nation reach the Olympic Games. Until next time, so long, wrestling fans. 

19:03: Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) rolled up Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU) with a pair of second-period side headlocks and claimed Russia's second gold of the night. 

18:47: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) and Arvi Martin SAVOLAINEN (FIN) finals opponents forfeited so they were awarded the gold medals at 87kg and 97kg, respectively.

18:23: The next finals match will be the 87kg finals between '19 world champion Lasha GOBADZE (GEO) and Islam ABBASOV (AZE).

18:22: From the looks of things, Bozo STARCEVIC (CRO) is sitting out of the finals, too. That'll give Aleksandr CHEKHIRKIN (RUS) the 77kg gold.

18:16: It looks like Balint KORPASI (HUN) has elected to sit out of the finals, which means the 68kg gold goes to Georgia's Ramaz ZOIDZE.

18:11: The 60kg title goes to the 21-year-old Turk, Kamal. He scored a four-point throw in the first and an inactivity in the second to defeat Kinsinger, 5-1. It's his second gold of the year. Kamal also won gold at the Heni Deglane in January. 

18:02: Here we got with Day Four action from Budapest. The first gold-medal match of the day will be at 60kg. It'll be Kerem KAMAL (TUR) and Etienne KINSINGER (GER) wrestling for gold.

#development

Bulgaria hosts OLYMP to increase media literacy

By United World Wrestling Press

BULGARIA (October 15) -- Bulgaria hosted a seminar on the OLYMP project, funded by the European Union's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme, at Diana National Wrestling Hall on October 9. The project aims to improve the media literacy of athletes, coaches, and sports managers.

The seminar was led by Georgi BANOV, one of the doyens of Bulgarian sports journalism, who has covered 14 Olympic Games in winter and summer sports, as well as a number of world and European Championships in wrestling, weightlifting, athletics, biathlon, and more.

The seminar was organized for the athletes of the national wrestling teams. The event was hosted by Belcho GORANOV, Chairman of the Ethics and Legal Commission of the United World Wrestling (UWW) and project manager on behalf of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by bgolympic (@bgolympic)

The team emphasized that the seminar is part of a six-month cycle of informal training under the OLYMP project, which covers a total of 110 young athletes. The program includes weekly sessions in small groups focusing on media and information literacy, critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as developing the participants' confidence and ability to defend their positions with reasoned arguments.

The weekly classes will include readings and discussions on biographies, novels, sports magazines, as well as topics related to sports management and economics. Additional informal activities -- meetings with prominent athletes and film screenings -- will be held twice a month, with each event featuring moderated debates and practical challenges for “fact checking” and ethical behavior on social media.

Banov drew the athletes' attention to how to verify the information they receive through social media and other sources, how to recognize fake news, how to search for reliable information, and how to use social networks correctly, avoiding hate speech.

At the end of the media literacy program, a combined (formal and informal) assessment is planned – short tests and case studies, observation of group work, participant portfolios, and satisfaction surveys—to report on the specific results of the training and its impact on the engagement of young athletes in public life.

Read more on BOC website