#WrestleTokyo

UWW President Lalovic Praises Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, IOC

Sunday, August 1, 2021 - 07:55 By United World Wrestling Press

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CHIBA, Japan (August 1) --- United World Wrestling president and International Olympic Committee Executive Board member Nenad Lalovic Sunday hailed the organizing committee at the Tokyo Olympic Games for conducting the mega event despite the setbacks because of COVID-19.

Lalovic was speaking the press conference on the first day of wrestling ,which began Sunday at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan.

"Welcome to the Olympic Games," Lalovic said. "The Olympic tournament is extremely well organized. It's impossible to compare [the organization in Rio and now in Tokyo] because now we are in a situation where are living alone for more than a year and a half. More or less imprisoned by the pandemic. It is a huge effort to organize the Olympic Games under such conditions. I congratulate the organizers, the Japanese government, the IOC and all involved in this process."

The Tokyo Games, originally scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9 in 2020 were postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 around the world. Lalovic said that IOC was determined to have the Games under any conditions.

"A year and few months ago we decided at the IOC session to have the Games under any conditions and that's what we have. We have to adapt to this and behave accordingly. Then we will have a successful Games," he said.

As wrestling began at the Games, Lalovic said that the sport has been improving constantly and the action in the first session in Chiba was a proof of that. 

"As you saw everything went very well in the first session. Results are quite interesting. Some are unexpected, some are expected. But this is what makes our sport interesting," he said.

At Greco-Roman 130kg, Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) moved closed to becoming the first male wrestler to win four gold medals as he reached the semifinal with ease on Sunday. He will take on Rio Olympic silver medalist Riza KAYAALP (TUR) in the semifinal.

Lalovic was of the opinion that if Lopez can achieve the rare feat it will be a huge effort from the veteran 38-year-old wrestler and a new superstar will be born for the sport.

"He would be the first male wrestler to have that number," he said. "We already have ICHO Kaori (JPN) who has four gold medals. So finally, one man will equal one woman. This is really great. The way he wrestled today encouraged us to think that this is possible. This is a huge effort. He is not the youngest wrestler here, probably the eldest, but definitely he is in very good form. I saw his matches. That would be a new-born superstar of wrestling.”

Icho won four gold medals at the Olympics from Athens to Rio. Now Lopez can equal her if he wins the gold Monday. Extending his thought about the growth of women's wrestling, Lalovic said that wrestlers Sunday showed that it is on its way to become as popular as the men's wrestling.

“In women's wrestling, as an example, the matches we saw today were fantastic, really fantastic, scoring so many technical points," he said. "Women’s wrestling becomes more and more popular and will soon be as popular as men’s wrestling especially with fights and techniques.

"Don't forget that these women are the heavyweights. They are not the fastest ones and even then it's spectacular. We in the federation all have full confidence that we are on the right track. Especially the national federations and NOCs by supporting and backing up women’s wrestling to the maximum. It has to be done, for sure. We saw the reasons this morning.”

He also talked about the opposition to the Games from the Japanese population but the IOC member said that the Games face challenges every edition but this time, going ahead with the event was the best way to fight the pandemic.

"There are always opponents to the Olympic Games everywhere," he said. "Especially finding many reasons to not have them. I don’t know if you remember, but in Beijing (2008), we all had to die from pollution. In London, we had been threatened that we would explode together underground. In Rio, we should all have been killed by the Zika mosquito. But it didn’t happen.

“Today we stand together with the media, athletes, National Olympic Committees and countries taking part in this Games, to fight the pandemic. This is the best way: by having the Olympics.

“You mention also the opposition in Japan. I remember there were 350,000 digital signatures against the Games. May I remind you that in 2013 when we had the crisis [when wrestling was on the verge of being dropped from Olympic Games programme by IOC), the Japanese Wrestling Federation collected more than one million physical signatures, and I insist on the word physical because people really came and signed. Digital signatures are a little bit easier.

“Certainly that is a politically difficult situation, all the pressure from the opposition and so on, but at the end, all of this has been forgotten when the Games were open and the first medals awarded. All that is behind us and we want to finish the Olympic Games in a bright way. I think nothing can stop us."

Wrestling had to fight for its spot in the Games program after IOC announced that it would be dropped after the Rio Games. But wrestling saw a host of changes and support poured in from around the world.

The sport was finally added to the next two cycles of the Games and Lalovic said that the improvement will continue going into the Paris Olympics.

“We have some ideas about what can be the improvements. We will analyze at the technical commission everything that has been shown the last two or three years since we adopted new rules. There may be some changes or improvements. But it has to be analyzed very, very seriously because I think we already achieved something different.

“Probably some small adjustments must be done. But this will be nothing revolutionary until we see that we are not progressing. At this moment, I am absolutely sure that we are progressing in every way. The approach to wrestling is totally different with those rules. You see aggression in Greco-Roman wrestling, which we didn’t have before.”

#JapanWrestling

Ono entered at 57kg, Susaki at 50kg for All-Japan Championships

Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 15:34 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (December 4) -- After winning both the U20 and senior world titles at freestyle 61kg within a two-month span in the autumn of 2024, Masanosuke ONO all but disappeared from the Japanese wrestling scene.

That culminated with his announcement in March this year that, having left Yamanashi Gakuin University, he had committed to wrestle at U.S. collegiate powerhouse Penn State. He has not been seen on the mats of Japan since.

Ono will compete once again in his home country, dropping down from 61kg to 57kg for the upcoming Emperor's Cup All-Japan Championships at Tokyo's Komazawa Gym, according to the entry list announced Thursday by the Japan Wrestling Federation.

The tournament, to be held December 18-21, will also serve as the domestic qualifier for next year's Asian Championships, and the first of two qualifiers for the Asian Games and World Championships in 2026.

Yui SUSAKI (JPN)Yui SUSAKI (JPN) will compete at 50kg at the Emperor's Cup. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Among other notable recent absentees appearing on the entry list is Yui SUSAKI, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion at 50kg who had to settle for a bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She will compete at 50kg, putting to bed speculation that she might move up to the 53kg division.

"This will be a tournament to start me anew on the road to the Los Angeles Olympics," Susaki said in an online press conference with the Japanese media, as reported by Wrestling-Spirits.jp.

"In order to reclaim the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, as a challenger starting from scratch, I want to win in a Yui Susaki-esque way of wrestling."

The 21-year-old Ono had been a question mark with the tournament falling in the middle of the Penn State season. But the decision to redshirt Ono -- the system of allowing him to train with the team while withholding him from competition to maintain an extra year of eligibility -- opened the door for him to make the trip back to Japan.

Assuming he does not have trouble making weight, he should be the class of the 57kg field, with his toughest competition most likely coming from two-time Asian bronze medalist Rikuto ARAI.

One opponent he won't have to contend with is Paris Olympic champion Rei HIGUCHI, who decided to continue delaying his return to action. Also missing is defending champion Rin SAKAMOTO, who was injured at the World Championships. With Sakamoto also across the Pacific at Oklahoma State University, it prevents a rare clash of U.S.-based wrestlers.

Susaki only returned to action in September, and both of her forays were at 53kg. That, and the well-publicized move up to 57kg by Akari FUJINAMI, the 53kg champion in Paris, fueled conjecture that Susaki might also move up.

Susaki started at the National Sports Festival, where she competed at 53kg if for no other reason that it was one of only two women's weight classes in the competition. She lost a defensive-oriented 2-1 decision to 2024 world 55kg champion Moe KIYOOKA in the quarterfinals, marking her first loss to a Japanese opponent in six years.

"Losing at the National Sports Festival gave me the chance to look inside myself," Susaki said. "The result was really disappointing, but I'm glad I took part and was grateful for the opportunity."

Now 26, the four-time world champion is firmly determined to regain the Olympic gold that eluded her in Paris with a heart-breaking last-second loss to Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) in the opening round.

"I truly was shown just how difficult and challenging it was to win at the Paris Olympics. It also gave me a chance to reflect on the preparation process leading up to the competition and what was needed mentally for the Olympics. I will work hard to use that experience to make sure I win the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics."

Susaki's top challengers at the Emperor's Cup appear to be world U23 bronze medalist Umi ITO and Haruna MORIKAWA, the world U23 champion at 53kg.

Meanwhile the presence of Fujinami, who added the world U23 title in October to her burgeoning resume, has been immediately felt at 57kg. Despite being an Olympic weight class, the division drew just nine others who will look to end the 21-year-old superstar's 147-match winning streak.

Her most potentially dangerous opponent could be Asian champion Sara NATAMI. At the National Sports Festival, she was losing 8-1 at 62kg to world 59kg champion Sakura ONISHI when she countered a takedown attempt by slamming her to her back for a fall.

Sakura MOTOKI (JPN)Paris Olympic and 2025 world champion Sakura MOTOKI (JPN). (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari) 

Golden trio at women's 62kg; returns of Paris champs Fumita, Kagami

As with any Japan competition that has world or Olympic berths at stake, a number of weight classes could see clashes between multiple wrestlers with global successes as they jockey for position in the run-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

And in one case, there are three at once, while two other weight classes could have direct clashes of champions from this year's worlds in Zagreb, Croatia.

At women's 62kg, Paris and 2025 world gold medalist Sakura MOTOKI will renew her rivalry with two-time former world champion Nonoka OZAKI, while Onishi moves up from 59kg to join the mix and can't be overlooked.

At women’s 68kg, reigning world champion Ami ISHII could lock horns with Miwa MORIKAWA, the gold medalist at 65kg, while at freestyle 74kg, we could see a battle between Zagreb winner Kota TAKAHASHI and 70kg titlist Yoshinosuke AOYAGI.

Like Susaki, all of Japan's large group of Paris medalists took some time off to bask in the spotlight before gradually returning to the mat over the past two years.

Two of the remaining gold medalist holdouts -- Kenichiro FUMITA and Yuka KAGAMI -- will both take the mat for the first time since their Paris victories at the Emperor's Cup.

Fumita, who won an elusive gold medal in Paris at Greco 60kg after taking the silver at Tokyo 2021, is entered at 63kg, where he will aim for a fifth national title and first since 2022. Kagami is entered at her gold medal-winning weight of women's 76kg. Their own rustiness may be more of a factor then the opponents.

While away from competition, Fumita spent the ensuing time experimenting with different methods as he looks to expand his reportoire.

"I have some anxiety, but I'm also looking forward to it," Fumita told Wrestling-Spirits.jp. "I achieved my goal in Paris, and on top of that, I've been taking a good look at wrestling. it. It was a year and four months full of new experiences. This will be a battlefield to reveal my new wrestling. I want to show wrestling that is free and unrestrained."

Fumita said he observed the nerves shown by fellow Paris gold medalists Nao KUSAKA (Greco 77kg) and Kotaro KIYOOKA (freestyle 65kg) when they returned to mat ahead of him at the Meiji Cup All-Japan Invitational Championships last spring.

"Before their matches, both of them looked pale," Fumita said. "I want to focus on fighting without putting too much pressure on myself. For better or worse, I want to fight thinking of myself as a different person than I was in Paris."

Other intriguing weight classes include freestyle 65kg, where Kiyooka may have to contend with Asian champion Kaisei TANABE, Asian 61kg champion Takara SUDA and two-time world U20 champion Yuto NISHIUCHI.

Two gold medalists from Tokyo who took time off for marriage and childbirth are back, with Mayu SHIDOCHI (nee MUKAIDA) challenging Moe Kiyooka at women's 55kg and Yukako INAMURA (nee KAWAI) entered at 59kg.

In Greco, rising star Taizo YOSHIDA, a bronze medalist at both the U20 and senior worlds this year at 82kg, has moved up to 87kg, where he will challenge two-time defending champion So SAKABE.