Obituary

Olympic champ Ogan passes away at 89

Friday, April 29, 2022 - 12:07 By United World Wrestling Press

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COSIER-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 29) --- İsmail OGAN (TUR), the two-time Olympic medalist and 1964 Tokyo Olympic champion, passed away earlier this week. He was 89 years old.

Ogan was born on March 5, 1933, in the Macun Village, Aksu District of Antalya, Turkey. He began his storied wrestling career in 1950 under the tutelage of trainers Yaşar DOGU (TUR) and Celal ATIK (TUR).

Olgan quickly made a name for himself in the wrestling world, winning three world medals and gold and silver medals at the Olympic Games. He started his impressive international career with a silver-medal finish at the 1957 Istanbul World Championships. Two years later, he won a second medal on the world stage, claiming bronze at the 1959 Tehran World Championships.

A year later, Olgan won a silver medal at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games after falling to American Douglas BLUGAUGH in the 73kg finals. But Olgan saved his most impressive performance for the final competition of his career, the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He defeated two-time world champion Guliko SAGARADZE (USSR) and improved his Rome Olympic silver to a Tokyo Olympic gold.

After retiring from wrestling following the 1964 Games, Olgan continued to give back to the wrestling community by coaching young Turkish athletes.

Four seeds, no finals: UWW approves new format for 2024 Olympic qualifiers

Monday, November 13, 2023 - 14:55 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (November 13) — United World Wrestling has approved a new format and seeds for the continental and world qualifiers for the Paris Olympics next year.

All five Paris Olympic Qualifiers next year will have four seeds in each of the weight classes and no gold-medal bouts.

The qualification cycle next year begins with the Pan-American Qualifiers in Acapulco, Mexico from February 28 to March 1. It will be followed by the African & Oceania Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt from March 22-24, European Qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan from April 4-7 and the Asian Qualifiers from April 19-21 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The World Olympic Qualifier will be held in Istanbul, Turkiye from May 9-12.
 
For the four Continental Qualifiers, the semifinal bouts will serve as the Paris Olympic qualification bouts. No repechage, bronze and gold-medal bouts will be held during these continental events. The finalists of each of the six Olympic weights will earn a spot for the Paris Games and no other quotas will be awarded at these competitions. The morning session will see bouts till the quarterfinals followed by a break and semifinals in the evening. Winners of these semifinals will earn their country a spot for the Paris Games.

Also Read: Paris 2024 Qualified Countries in Freestyle

For the World Qualifier, the semifinal bouts will serve as the Paris Olympic qualification bouts and the winners of these semifinals will earn a quota for the Olympic Games. The two winners of the bronze-medal bouts will compete for the third quota of each weight category. No gold-medal match will be held during this competition.

It will be held in a two-day format with the repechage scheduled on the second day. All competing wrestlers on day two will have to go through weigh-ins and wrestle in repechage to make it to the bronze-medal bout. The bronze medalists will then wrestle-off to win a Paris Olympic ticket.

Also Read: Nations Qualified for Paris 2024 in Greco-Roman

The UWW Bureau arrived at the decision keeping in mind the well being of the wrestlers and have a high level of competition at the Olympic qualifiers and the Paris Olympics next year.

144 wrestlers will look to qualify their countries for the Paris Olympics 2024 at the Pan-Am, African & Oceania, European and Asian Olympic Qualifiers while 54 more will earn the spot at the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul, Turkiye.

Also Read: Countries Qualified for Paris Olympics in Women’s Wrestling

The first qualification for the 2024 Olympics was achieved at the World Championships in September in Belgrade with 90 wrestlers receiving the quotas for the Games.

All the action from the Olympic Qualifiers will be live on UWW+. For more details of events, browse our events page.