#WrestleAlexandria

WATCH: 10 women's wrestling from Egypt

Thursday, March 2, 2023 - 09:14 By Vinay Siwach

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ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 2) -- In the absence of Japan, Ukraine and China dominated the competition at the Ibrahim Moustafa Ranking Series event. Ukraine outplaced China with ease and will continue to battle for the second spot below Japan this year.

With more and more wrestlers moving into the Olympic weight classes, a few weight classes saw surprising results but some other stalwarts returned to form before the long season which also includes the World Championships.

GOLD: 50kg - Meng FAN (CHN) vs. Ziqi FENG (CHN)

GOLD: 53kg - Lucia YEPEZ (ECU) vs. Li DENG (CHN)

GOLD: 55kg - Bediha GUN (TUR) vs. Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

Semifinal: 57kg - Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL) vs. Alexandria TOWN (CAN) [The gold medal bout between Town and Alina AKOBIIA (UKR) did not take place after the later pulled out injured]

GOLD: 59kg - Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) vs. Yuliia TKACH (UKR)

GOLD: 62kg - Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) vs. Xiaojuan LUO (CHN)

Round 2: Emma BRUNTIL (USA) vs. Tetiana RIZHKO (UKR)

GOLD: 65kg - Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) vs. Forrest MOLINARI (USA)

GOLD: 72kg - Alina RUDNYTSKA LEVYTSKA (UKR) vs. Dalma CANEVA (ITA)

GOLD: 76kg - Juan WANG (CHN) vs. Kennedy Alexis BLADES (USA)

Olympic silver medalist Oborududu announces retirement

Saturday, June 7, 2025 - 07:10 By Vinay Siwach

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NIGERIA (June 6) -- Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) announced her retirement last week, ending a memorable career in wrestling.

The 36-year-old called it quits at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, a tournament she made her first appearance as a young wrestler in 2006.

In a career spanning 19 years, Oborududu won the African Championships 13 times, became the first African wrestler to win Olympic silver medal in Women's Wrestling and finished fifth at the Paris Olympics.

Oborududu participated won her first gold at the African Championships in 2010 and maintained her winning streak at the tournament for 15 years. 

“I want to thank everyone who has been part of my journey: the Nigeria Wrestling Federation led by Daniel IGALI, the board members, my teammates, and my family,” Oborududu was quoted as saying by the Nigeria media. "I created a lot of memories, but my most memorable one was the Tokyo Olympics, which ignited hope across Africa. It was the first-ever medal by an African woman in wrestling at the Olympics, and I hope more will come for future wrestlers."

At the sports festival, Oborududu helped Team Bayelsa clinch gold medal in her final bout at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival. He later received a farewell from teammates, officials and fans.