#WomensDay2022

Olympic Champ Focken: Women Inspire Women

By Aline Focken

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 8) -- Happy International Women's Day to all the great women wrestlers worldwide! And to those great people who empower these women to live their dreams -- the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, coaches and friends who support our strong women in their internal and external development -- we could not do this wonderful sport without you. 

Now, to all of you strong girls and women worldwide; I know there's resistance, and there are so many obstacles that you have to overcome. I know that not everyone supports what you do and that it is much harder for women to convince people of our great potential. However, do not worry about them. I have experienced this for many years. Just know that these are not your limitations but theirs.

Germany is a modern and progressive country but women who wrestle are still a minority.

I started wrestling when I was four years old and was the only girl wrestling with 40-50 boys for over 15 years. Of course, it was hard. Many boys were always trying to beat me up, and they did. Nevertheless, I worked harder and listened to my coaches, ultimately becoming my country, state and club's most successful wrestler ever.

Moreover, I married, had many friends -- inside and outside the sport -- and earned a master's degree without being "a right woman."

Suddenly, I earned everyone's respect.

Smile at those critical people, pick the right individuals willing to help and work professionally with you, and show them what you got.

Yes, we are far from having the same rights and chances as men anywhere in the world but I think we are on the right path. It's getting better and better.

Just 18 years ago, the Olympic Games welcomed women's wrestling as a sport with four weight classes. Nine years later, we grew to six Olympic weight classes and our style is growing faster than ever. More and more countries are promoting and developing women's wrestling, which excites me to see where we'll be in 10 years.

But we need more strong and brave women going this way to show every critic that we are worth being promoted.

Despite the obstacles and years of hard work, I will never regret choosing this way. Nothing else has taught me more in life than wrestling. There's no better feeling than beating up on the boys and showing the entire world our capabilities!  

So, keep going, tell all the little girls how beautiful wrestling is and enjoy every minute of your journey! You are already the best role models for so many people out there and you should be proud of how far you have come!

[Aline FOCKEN (GER) won the 76kg gold medal at the Tokyo Games and became Germany's first-ever Olympic champion]

#WrestleZagreb

World Championships 2025 Greco-Roman Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (August 19) -- The World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will see 309 Greco-Roman wrestlers compete for the world titles.

The Greco-Roman competition will be towards in the end of the World Championships. For full schedule, click here.

Note: The entry are subject to change. Please refer to uww.org for latest updates

Zagreb

55kg
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO)
Anil MOR (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Sajjad ALBIDHAN (IRQ)
Taiga ONISHI (JPN)
Yerassyl MAMYRBEKOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Junsik YU (KOR)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Alexander CUEVAS (SGP)
Abduvali RAHIMBAYEV (TKM)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Jayden RANEY (USA)
Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW)
Ikhtiyor BOTIROV (UZB)

60kg
Abdelkarim FERGAT (ALG)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Marat GARIPOV (BRA)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Amiran SHAVADZE (GEO)
SURAJ (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Kaito INABA (JPN)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Dahyun KIM (KOR)
Justas PETRAVICIUS (LTU)
Victor CIOBANU (MDA)
Alexis RODRIGUEZ (MEX)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Se Ung RI (PRK)
Georgij TIBILOV (SRB)
Ekrem OZTURK (TUR)
Vladyslav KUZKO (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Sadyk LALAEV (UWW)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Abdeldjebar DJEBBARI (ALG)
Karen ASLANYAN (ARM)
Murad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Nikolay VICHEV (BUL)
Yuhe HUANG (CHN)
Godefroid KALUBI (COD)
Ivan LIZATOVIC (CRO)
Andres MONTANO (ECU)
Moamen MOHAMED (EGY)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Beka GURULI (GEO)
Sunny KUMAR (IND)
Mohammad KESHTKAR (IRI)
Manato NAKAMURA (JPN)
Madiyar MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Baiaman KARIMOV (KGZ)
Hanjae CHUNG (KOR)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ ZAPATA (MEX)
Morten THORESEN (NOR)
Chan KIM (PRK)
Aref MOHAMMADI (QAT)
Azatjan ACHILOV (TKM)
Kerem KAMAL (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ellis COLEMAN (USA)
Sergey EMELIN (UWW)
Aytjan KHALMAKHANOV (UZB)

67kg
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM)
Tsuchika SHIMOYAMADA (AUS)
Aker SCHMID (AUT)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Roland KALAMBAYI (COD)
Julian HORTA (COL)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Luis ORTA (CUB)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Joni KHETSURIANI (GEO)
Witalis LAZOVSKI (GER)
ANIL (IND)
Saeid ESMAEILI (IRI)
Kyotaro SOGABE (JPN)
Bagdat SABAZ (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Minseong KWON (KOR)
Kristupas SLEIVA (LTU)
Valentin PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Man Gwang SON (PRK)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Murat FIRAT (TUR)
Maksym YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Alston NUTTER (USA)
Daniial AGAEV (UWW)
Hleb MAKARANKA (UWW)
Shermukhammad SHARIBJANOV (UZB)
Neiser MARIMON HIDALGO (VEN)

72kg
Abdelmalek MERABET (ALG)
Gor KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Petar GORNYASHKI (BUL)
Lei LI (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Pavel PUKLAVEC (CRO)
Dalgat MAGOMEDOV (CZE)
Moustafa ALAMELDIN (EGY)
Matias LIPASTI (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Iuri LOMADZE (GEO)
Luis BARRIOS (HON)
Krisztian VANCZA (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Taishi NARIKUNI (JPN)
Almatbek AMANBEK (KAZ)
Amantur ISMAILOV (KGZ)
Yeonghun NOH (KOR)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Irving SALAZAR (MEX)
Aleksander MIELEWCZYK (POL)
Rafeeq ELNATSHEH (QAT)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Didar ORAZBERDIYEV (TKM)
Mustafa SAHIN (TUR)
Parviz NASIBOV (UKR)
Alejandro SANCHO (USA)
Aliaksandr LIAVONCHYK (UWW)
Danil GRIGOREV (UWW)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

77kg
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Chawki DOULACHE (ALG)
Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM)
Sanan SULEYMANOV (AZE)
Calebe CORREA (BRA)
Stoyan KUBATOV (BUL)
Likui SHI (CHN)
Harryson NSIAMAZA (COD)
Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO)
Marcos SANCHEZ (ESP)
Jonni SARKKINEN (FIN)
Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO)
Idris IBAEV (GER)
Robert FRITSCH (HUN)
AMAN (IND)
Alireza ABDEVALI (IRI)
Nao KUSAKA (JPN)
Noil UMAROV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hyeonjin KANG (KOR)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Saad AL SULAITI (QAT)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Lai Hsing YAO (TPE)
Ahmet YILMAZ (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Kamal BEY (USA)
Maksim SHEDZ (UWW)
Sergei KUTUZOV (UWW)
Aram VARDANYAN (UZB)

82kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Deyvid DIMITROV (BUL)
Zhihuan WANG (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Filip SACIC (CRO)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
RAHUL (IND)
Gholamreza FAROKHI (IRI)
Luca DARIOZZI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Wonjong SUN (KOR)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Gabriel DINETTE (PHI)
Shahin BADAGHIMOFRAD (QAT)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Burhan AKBUDAK (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Adlet TIULIUBAEV (UWW)
Ilya BITSEYEU (UWW)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)

87kg
Bachir SID AZARA (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Erion RAMLJAK (AUS)
Islam ABBASOV (AZE)
Yoan DIMITROV (BUL)
Jianwen LUO (CHN)
Ivan HUKLEK (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Loic Dimitri SAMEN (FRA)
Lasha GOBADZE (GEO)
Hannes WAGNER (GER)
David LOSONCZI (HUN)
Karan KAMBOJ (IND)
Alireza MOHMADI (IRI)
Soh SAKABE (JPN)
Baurzhan MUSSIN (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Sanghyeok PARK (KOR)
Jose VARGAS (MEX)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Arkadiusz KULYNYCZ (POL)
Patrik GORDAN (ROU)
Aleksandr KOMAROV (SRB)
Damian VON EUW (SUI)
Hamza SERTCANLI (SWE)
Muhittin SARICICEK (TUR)
Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Milad ALIRZAEV (UWW)
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (UWW)
Mukhammadkodir RASULOV (UZB)
Luis AVENDANO ROJAS (VEN)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (ARM)
Markus RAGGINGER (AUT)
Arif NIFTULLAYEV (AZE)
Youfang ZHANG (CHN)
Barthelemy TSHOSHA (COD)
Filip SMETKO (CRO)
Gabriel ROSILLO (CUB)
Artur OMAROV (CZE)
Mohamed GABR (EGY)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (FIN)
Giorgi MELIA (GEO)
Lucas LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Kevin MEJIA (HON)
Alex SZOKE (HUN)
NITESH (IND)
Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI)
Nikoloz KAKHELASHVILI (ITA)
Yuri NAKAZATO (JPN)
Rakhat BERZHANOV (KAZ)
Uzur DZHUZUPBEKOV (KGZ)
Minho LEE (KOR)
Mindaugas VENCKAITIS (LTU)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Gerard KURNICZAK (POL)
Aleksandar STJEPANETIC (SWE)
Eduard BABENOSHEV (TJK)
Amanberdi AGAMAMMEDOV (TKM)
Ibrahim TIGCI (TUR)
Vladlen KOZLIUK (UKR)
Michial FOY (USA)
Artur SARGSIAN (UWW)
Kiryl MASKEVICH (UWW)

130kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Beka KANDELAKI (AZE)
Wenhao JIANG (CHN)
Oscar PINO HINDS (CUB)
Abdellatif MOHAMED (EGY)
Heiki NABI (EST)
Matti KUOSMANEN (FIN)
Sulkhan BUIDZE (GEO)
Jello KRAHMER (GER)
Gino AVILA DILBERT (HON)
Darius VITEK (HUN)
SONU (IND)
Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI)
Ali AL SHARUEE (IRQ)
Danila SOTNIKOV (ITA)
Yuta NARA (JPN)
Akarys BERDASHOV (KAZ)
Nurmanbet RAIMALY UULU (KGZ)
Seungchan LEE (KOR)
Mantas KNYSTAUTAS (LTU)
Nambardagva BATBAYAR (MGL)
Jacob LOGAARD (SWE)
Hekim GURBANMYRADOV (TKM)
Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykola KUCHMII (UKR)
Cohlton SCHULTZ (USA)
Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW)
Sergei SEMENOV (UWW)
Moises PEREZ (VEN)