#WrestleParis, Olympics

UWW approves updated Paris Olympics qualification process

By Vinay Siwach

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 28) -- United World Wrestling has approved an updated qualification process for the '24 Paris Olympics.

To qualify for the Paris Games, wrestlers will get three events. -- the 2023 World Championships, the continental qualifiers in 2024, and the 2024 World Olympics Qualifiers, the last chance for wrestlers to earn a spot.

Wrestling will be contested in three styles -- Greco-Roman, men's freestyle, and women's freestyle -- with a total of 18 weight classes. One weight class will have 16 wrestlers and each nation will be able to field a maximum of one wrestler per weight. Overall, 288 quotas will be awarded for the '24 Olympics.

"We are extremely happy to confirm the qualifying period and structure for the Paris Olympics," Nenad LALOVIC, UWW President, said. "We have made a few changes to the qualifying process that creates further fairness in the distribution between the World Championships and the World Qualifier."

Any wrestler born on/before December 31, 2006, is eligible to compete and qualify for the Paris Olympics. According to the updated system, the National Olympic Committees that participated in the '23 senior continental championships will be allowed to participate in the '23 World Championships which is the first qualification tournament [with the same number of athletes per style].

Earlier, 108 quotas were awarded at the World Championships [six per Olympic weight] but UWW has decided to reduce it to 90 quotas [five per Olympic weight].

At the 2023 World Championships, all four medalists [gold, silver, and two bronze] will secure the quota for their nation. The fifth spot will be decided with a bout between the wrestlers who lost their bronze medal matches. The winner of this wrestle-off gets a quota for the '24 Games.

In the second phase, 144 wrestlers will qualify for the Paris Games through the continental quotas. The top two wrestlers in each Olympic weight class will get one spot each for their NOCs.

Athletes who earned a quota at the '23 Worlds will not be eligible to participate in the continental qualifiers unless they participate in a different style. For continental qualifiers, a NOC/NF can only send the same number of wrestlers that participated in the '24 senior continental championships.

The third and final phase will see the World Olympic Qualifiers offer three quotas in each Olympic weight class instead of the two it offered previously. A total of 54 wrestlers can qualify for the tournament.

Apart from the 36 finalists across three styles, the bronze medal winners will also have a chance to get a quota for their country. An additional wrestle-off will be held between the two bronze medal winners and the wrestler who wins the quota wrestle-off will take the trip to Paris.

Any country can send its wrestlers to this event barring the wrestlers who won quotas in phases one and two.

UWW's vision to update the qualification was to give fair chance to wrestlers who failed to reach the finals at the World Olympic Qualifiers. This also makes the repechage equally important as the semifinals.

If there are any unused quotas due to withdrawal, doping offense, or non-participation, the quota will be transferred to the next best wrestler of that weight category of the tournament.

The qualifying period begins September 16, 2023, and ends May 12, 2024. The eight-month period will see six qualifying tournaments.

The deadline for the Paris Olympic entries is July 8, 2024, with wrestling scheduled to take place in Paris from August 4-11, 2024.

The candidacy to host the Continental Olympic Qualifiers and the World Olympic Qualifiers is now open and UWW encourages all the NFs interested to host one of these events to send their candidacy.

#WrestleParis

Valizadeh, Mahdavi named in IOC Refugee Team for 2024 Paris Olympics

By United World Wrestling Press

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (May 2) -- Wrestlers Iman MAHDAVI and Jamal VALIZADEH were among the 36 athletes from 11 different countries across 12 sports were named by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024.

Mahdavi and Valizadeh were selected to the IOC Refugee Olympic Team through the support of the Refugee Athletes Scholarship Programme, funded by the IOC's Olympic Solidarity program. The two wrestlers are supported by the hosting national federations of Italy and France and the United World Wrestling Development Department for Technical Assistance and participation in UWW events.

At the 2024 Paris Games in August, the two will be representing different styles with Valizadeh gearing up for Greco-Roman 60kg and Mahdavi set to compete in Freestyle 74kg.

Mahdavi was born to be a wrestler, following in his father's footsteps. Through his unwavering love for the sport and fierce determination, it was no surprise that success followed the now-29-year-old. He won seven junior national titles and quickly climbed the ranks in his nation.

But in 2020, that was all derailed as Mahdavi fled his country and became a refugee. He moved to Milan, Italy, and applied for asylum. He found a full-time job in Milan and friends that soon became family. Through all the uncertainties, one thing remained – his love for wrestling.

Mahdavi found a practice facility in Milan, one with high-level training partners that helped rekindle his Olympic hopes. He worked out five days a week, and after three years of struggle, Mahdavi returned to the mat under the UWW Refugee team.

Mahdavi's UWW Refugee team debut came at the 2023 European Championships, where he registered a 12th-place finish at 74kg, one of the most competitive brackets of the tournament. After two months of tweaks and improvements, Mahdavi achieved a career-best result – a bronze medal at the City of Sassari Tournament. He continued taking the mat every chance he had, wrestling in the Poland Open and World Championships, where he finished in fifth and 18th, respectively.

This year, Mahdavi's competition calendar will feature three events – two of which will be tune-up competitions. He already participated in the European Championships and will use the World OG Qualifier (May 11-12) as a warm up competition for the Paris Games, where he will compete August 9-10.

It is to be noted that Mahdavi will be in Istanbul on a participating basis and not for qualification. The same is true for Valizadeh who will compete in Istanbul but not to qualify.

Like Mahdavi, Valizadeh shared a similar love for wrestling from a young age. He became one of Iran's brightest talents through his hard work and commitment to wrestling.

Despite having a bright future in the sport, Valizadeh was forced to put wrestling in the rearview and leave Iran in 2014 for a better life. He ended up in Turkiye, where he worked nearly 16 hours a day to make ends meet.

But still, Valizadeh knew there was no way he could reach his ultimate goal – the Olympic Games – living in Turkiye.

After two years, Valizadeh departed Turkiye by boat and arrived in France where he trains with the French Greco-Roman National Team and lives in Metz.

Although he had been away from the sport for many years, Valizadeh regained his passion for wrestling and returned to the mat in 2023 as a UWW Refugee team member. He competed six times last year, including the European and World Championships.

This season, in addition to his appearances at the Henri Deglane and European Championships in GR 60kg, Valizadeh will participate, for experience, in the World OG Qualifier (May 9-10) before wrestling on home soil at the Paris Olympic Games, August 5-6.

For more on the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, visit olympics.com.