#WrestleBucharest

Ukraine Wins Women’s Wrestling European Team Title

Friday, April 12, 2019 - 19:59 By Eric Olanowski

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BUCHAREST, Romania (April 11) – Ukraine, who had a solo bronze medalist and finished last year’s Kaspiisk European Championships in seventh place, capped off their improbable run to a European team title on the backs of four individual women’s wrestling championship performances. 

They had three champions on Thursday night and added one more gold medal on Friday to bring their overall title total to four European championships. Their lone Day 5 champion was Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR), who won the 72kg gold medal. 

In the 72kg finals, former two-time continental champion Alina Berezhna Stadnik won her third European title with a fall over Anna SCHELL (GER) four minutes into the finals. It was the second time the Berezhna Stadnik threw her German opponent to her back but was able to put an exclamation point on Ukraine’s run to a European team title with a fall to close out the competition. 

Ukrainian's also welcomed Day 5 points from silver medalists Lilya HORISHNA and Tetyana KIT. 

Bulgaria, who grabbed an individual title from Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) at 62kg, finished in second place with 112 points. 

At 62kg, returning world and European champion Taybe Yusein successfully defended her title with a controlling 4-0 victory over Italy’s first time continental medalist  Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA). 

The final three women's wrestling gold medals went to Russia, Hungary, and Azerbaijan. 

In the 53kg finals, defending champion Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) punished two-time U23 European gold medalist Lilya HORISHNA (UKR), 13-3, and won her second consecutive continental title.

Orsush trailed early after Horishnia was awarded an inactivity point, but the Russian outscored her Ukrainian opponent 13-2 before ending the match early. 

Orsush started her 13 points scoring streak off with a takedown, then wasted no time getting to a gut wrench and commanded the 4-1 lead after trailing 1-0. She continued to stay offensive, grabbing a second takedown, then transitioned into a pair of gut wrenches and led 10-3 after the first period. 

In the second period, she kept the heat on and scored a stepout and a third takedown to win her second consecutive European title. 

A lot of close and tense moments in the 57kg finals, but in the end, it was fifth-ranked returning world bronze medalist Emese BARKA (HUN) who came out on top against world bronze medalist Tetyana KIT (UKR), 4-2. 

In their gold-medal match, Barka and Kit exchanged two-and-two in the opening period, but it was Barka who had the lead on criteria. The Hungarian wrestler picked up her other two points off of Ukrainian cautions and added a continental gold medal to her resume for the first time in her career. 

At 65kg, Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) spoiled Kriszta INCZE’s (ROU) hopes of becoming the first Romanian women’s wrestler to win a European gold medal by scoring six unanswered second-period points to win the gold medal, 6-4. 

Manolova was down 4-0 heading into the intermission, but never panicked and tied the match with a takedown and a pair of stepouts, but still trailed on criteria. The Azeri thought she took the lead with a stepout with 15 seconds left, but a challenge determined the wrestlers were grounded and the call was reversed. 

With under 10 seconds left, the Azeri took a desperation shot and silenced the crowd with a takedown as time expired to win her third continental title and first since 2015. 

RESULTS
GOLD - Ukraine (168 points)
SILVER  - Bulgaria  (112 points)
BRONZE - Turkey (98 points)
Fourth – Azerbaijan (96 points)
Fifth - Russia (89 points)

53kg 
GOLD - Stalvira ORSHUSH (RUS) df. Lilya HORISHNA (UKR), 13-3
BRONZE - Vanesa KALADZINSKAYA (BLR) df. Roksana ZASINA (POL), 2-0 
BRONZE - essica Cornelia Francisca BLASZKA (NED) df. Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA), 6-4 

57kg
GOLD - Emese BARKA (HUN) df. Tetyana KIT (UKR), 4-2
BRONZE - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) df. Mathilde Hélène RIVIERE (FRA), 8-7 
BRONZE - Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE) df. Mimi HRISTOVA (BUL), via fall 

62kg
GOLD - Taybe YUSEIN (BUL) df. Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA), 4-0 
BRONZE - Marianna SASTIN (HUN) df. Moa NYGREN (SWE), 3-2 
BRONZE - Tetiana OMELCHENKO (AZE) df. Ilona PROKOPEVNIUK (UKR), 6-4 

65kg
GOLD - Elis MANOLOVA (AZE) df. Kriszta Tunde INCZE (ROU), 6-4 
BRONZE - Petra OLLI (FIN) df. Henna JOHANSSON (SWE), 2-2 
BRONZE - Mariia KUZNETSOVA (RUS) df. Asli DEMIR (TUR) , 14-3

72kg 
GOLD - Alina BEREZHNA STADNIK MAKHYNIA (UKR) df. Anna Carmen SCHELL (GER), via fall 
BRONZE - Tatiana KOLESNIKOVA MOROZOVA (RUS) df. Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU), 5-4 

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Paris Olympics: Wrestling breaks new barriers, expands reach across continents

Thursday, August 22, 2024 - 14:05 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 22): More than half a million new fans in the digital community. An astounding 100 million engagements. And a remarkable 134 percent increase in social media impressions compared to Tokyo 2020.

At the Paris Olympics, it was a gold medal for wrestling.

UWW

On the mat, legends were born, records were set, and some moments would be remembered for ages. Off it, the sport broke new barriers, expanded its reach and engaged with a diverse audience as the United World Wrestling digital channels witnessed unprecedented growth during the Games.

The UWW’s online platforms recorded an impressive 11.2 percent increase in followers, adding over 508,000 new fans to its digital community. Compared to the growth in followers during the Tokyo Olympics, this figure represents a staggering 125 percent increase.

A large part of this surge was seen on Instagram, where the UWW gained 217,000 new followers. Facebook was a close second, adding 183,000 new followers while TikTok, the platform known for its short, engaging content, added 61,400 new followers. The growth across all platforms highlights the effectiveness of the UWW’s content strategy.

The inspiring clip of Greco-Roman star Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI), who won Iran’s first gold medal in the Paris Olympics drove the maximum engagement on Instagram. Saravi, who won a bronze medal in Tokyo, beat Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 4-1 in the 97kg final.

Another Iranian, Rahman AMOUZAD, one of the most feared wrestlers in the 65 kg freestyle, went viral with a video in which he proclaimed himself the ‘king’. This post had the second-highest engagement while a slick clip of Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) was the third-most viewed, captivating the viewers and leading engagements as well as interactions.

These videos – and many others shared across UWW’s social media channels – resonated strongly with audiences, garnering record-breaking views. Overall, there were 330 million impressions, a remarkable rise of 134 percent compared to the Tokyo Olympics.

Moreover, the content also achieved 100 million engagements, and a 71 percent increase in reach compared to the previous Olympic Games. This surge in interaction underscores the high level of interest and excitement generated by UWW’s coverage of the Olympic wrestling events.

The video content drove UWW’s social media success. Across all platforms, UWW’s video content garnered over 156 million views, an extraordinary 205 percent increase compared to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

YouTube, in particular, saw significant traction with over 21 million views. This success was fueled by a mix of short and long-form videos apart from live streaming, with shorts emerging as the most popular content format.

With more than one million views, the YouTube video of AMAN (IND) getting his revenge over Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) with a win in the preliminary round. Aman, who won a bronze medal, had lost to Abakarov at the 2023 World Championships.

Chamizo’s video, Don't play with fire #WrestleParis, which went viral on Instagram was also a huge hit on YouTube with hundreds of thousands of viewers, making it the second-most watched video on the platform.

The Day Three highlights show which revisited one of the biggest upsets of the competition – Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) defeating Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the women’s 50 kg first round – got the third-highest views on YouTube.

The UWW’s vibrant social media strategy was complemented by a robust email marketing campaign, which ran daily throughout the Olympic Games. The ongoing CRM campaigns helped boost engagement across Web, App and UWW+.