#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.

Obituary

U.S. Greco-Roman star Alan Vera passes away

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 24) -- United States Greco-Roman wrestler and Pan-Am champion Alan VERA (USA) passed away Monday. Vera suffered a sudden cardiac arrest earlier this year and had been hospitalized since then in recovery from his serious health challenges.

Vera was born in Cuba and won a bronze medal at the 2015 Pan American Games and a gold medal at the 2016 Pan American Championships, while competing for Cuba. He immigrated to the United States and lived in Florida for a number of years. He continued to train and compete in Greco-Roman and various international events for a few years.

Vera qualified the U.S. for the Paris Olympics in 97kg at the 2024 Pan-American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Acapulco, Mexico.

Very saddened to hear about Alan Vera’s passing. In my limited time around him he was always willing to help on the mat, and offer a laugh at a terrible joke I made

— Kyle Dake (@kyledake444) September 24, 2024
 

Domestically, Vera claimed his first U.S. national title in 2020, and won four national titles during his career.

Vera was married to Elena PIROZKHOVA (USA), a two-time Olympian and former world champion.

United World Wrestling mourns the death of Vera and stands with the Vera family.