#WrestleBudapest

Russia Relying on Three Olympic Champs for Tokyo Berths  

Thursday, March 11, 2021 - 21:12 By Eric Olanowski

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (March 11) --- The Russian Federation will rely heavily on Olympic champions Roman VLASOV (RUS), Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS) and Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS) to earn berths to the Tokyo Olympic Games through next week’s European Olympic Qualifier (March 18-21).  

They’ll need a top-two finish to punch their nation’s ticket to this summer’s Games.

Greco-Roman stars Vlasov and Chakvetadze will compete at 77kg and 87kg, respectively, while Vorobieva will wrestle in arguably the deepest women’s wrestling weight, 76kg.  

Vlasov, already a two-time Olympic champion, is on a mission to become wrestling's fourth Greco-Roman three-time Olympic gold medalist. He’d join a shortlist of three-timers, including fellow Novosibirsk native Aleksandr KARELIN (RUS), along with Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) and Carl WESTERGREN (SWE).

The European Olympic Qualifiers will be Vlasov’s second attempt at earning an Olympic bid. He came up shy of a top-eight finish at the ’19 World Championships. Vlasov dropped his second-round bout to Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ), 3-0, and finished in eighth place.

Since that uncharacteristic loss at the World Championships, "Air Vlasov" returned to his winning ways. He nabbed gold at the Individual World Cup with five wins -- including a one-point victory against fellow world champion and longtime rival, Viktor NEMES (SRB).

Chakvetadze, the Rio Olympic gold medalist, is replacing Russia’s world and European representative Aleksandr KOMAROV (RUS) at 87kg. Komarov needed a top-six finish at the ’19 World Championships to qualify Russia for the Olympics but dropped his second-round match to Rustam ASSAKALOV (UZB) and finished in 11th place. 

Chakvetadze received the nod over Komarov for a second straight completion. His last outing came at the '20 Individual World Cup in late December, where he finished in second place. During his run to the Belgrade finals, the Olympic champion looked in top-shape en route to wins over continental champion Semen NOVIKOV (UKR) and Hossein Ahmad NOURI (IRI) before running into the buzzsaw Kiryl MASKEVICH (BLR).

London gold medalist and Rio silver-medal winner Vorobeva is the reigning world and European champion at the non-Olympic weight of 72kg. She’s moving up to 76kg with hopes of becoming the first non-Japanese woman ever to win a pair of Olympic gold medals. 

Vorobieva is replacing Rio Olympic bronze medalist Ekaterina BUKINA (RUS) at 76kg. Bukina lost to Epp MAE (EST) in the first round at the ’19 World Championships and left Nur-Sultan with a disappointing 17th-place finish.

The Olympic Qualifier will be Vorobeva's first tournament up at the Olympic weight in 14 months. In her last outing at 76kg, she went 3-1 and claimed a Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series bronze medal. Vorobeva tallied her biggest win of the competition in the quarterfinals against '19 world bronze medalist Epp MAEE (EST), 11-2.

Wrestling begins on Thursday, March 18, and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

#development

Libya hosts its first coach and referee course

Monday, November 17, 2025 - 08:37 By United World Wrestling Press

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TRIPOLI, Libya (November 17) -- Libya hosted its first ever education courses for coaches and referees from October 27 to November 3 in Tripoli, Libya.

The courses were conducted in conjunction with United World Wrestling, Olympic Solidarity, Libya NOC and the Libya Wrestling Federation. The coaching course was led by Ahmed KHEDHRI. The referee course was led by Kamel BOUAZIZ.

"This course was considered a success, as we were fortunate to have tutors Khedhri and Bouaziz," Khaled EZANKULI, Secretary General of Libyan Olympic Committee, said. "These courses are a step in the Libyan Wrestling Federation's programs and is part of the joint work with Olympic Solidarity, United World Wrestling and the Libyan Olympic Committee. We consider it a step forward in developing the skills of local coaches, raising their level, and relying on their actual abilities to achieve fair competition."

Libya

During the first half of the program, the technical course for coaches was conducted from October 17 to 31. The course was attended by 21 coaches who participated in Level 1 Course [Introduction to Coaching and Safety]. The following topics were covered throughout the course: discovery games, introducing a new technique, coaching skills, giving feedback, risk management, age and developmental stage characteristics.

The coaches actively practiced and developed their skills through practical evaluations. There was special emphasis placed learning new techniques and applying them in a realistic training environment.

"The coaches in the course showed lot of enthusiasm, cooperation, and exchange of experiences which was reflected in the participants’ active engagement and positive interaction throughout both the theoretical and practical sessions," Khedhri said. "This contributed to enhancing the overall learning outcomes and helped participants acquire new knowledge and skills in a professional yet friendly environment."

The Introduction to Refereeing Course was conducted from November 1 to 3. This course was led by Bouaziz and had 18 participants. The participants learned the foundations of what it takes to be a great referee.

The areas covered during the course included: safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout. 

"A good number of participants already had knowledge of wrestling," Bouaziz said. "They were very attentive to the explanations, which allowed me to pass on as much information as possible. The same was true for the theoretical part, where their participation and interest were remarkable."

The program was praised by the federation and the participants as well.

"I am very pleased with the success achieved by this course on both the technical and organizational levels. It represents an important step toward building a strong training foundation that will contribute to developing coaches and referees and raising the overall standard of wrestling in Libya," Nabil Abou CHAHMA, President of Libyan Wrestling Federation, said.