#WrestleTokyo

#WrestleTokyo Olympic Games Preview: 57kg

Thursday, July 29, 2021 - 15:08 By Eric Olanowski

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TOKYO, Japan (July 20) – Zaur UGUEV (RUS) has been the gold standard at 57kg since he bolstered his resume with a pair of world titles in '18 and '19. The 26-year-old Khasavyurt, Dagestan native heads into the Tokyo Olympic Games with 15 men chasing down the head-topping crown he's held since '18. He's riding a five-tournament 16-match win streak and is seeded second at 57kg, one spot behind Serbia's history-making Olympian, Stevan MICIC (SRB).

Micic, Serbia's first-ever freestyle Olympian, won the tight-knit race for the 57kg top seed after claiming gold at the final Ranking Series event of the season, the Poland Open. He earned 62 Ranking Series points and finished two points ahead of Uguev.

Uguev dropped to an uncharacteristic 23rd-place finish at the '17 World Championships but has since terrorized the rest of the 57kg field on his way to winning back-to-back world titles. Since that loss, the spry and agile lightweight has medaled at 15 consecutive events and has podium-topping finishes in 12 of those appearances.

His last loss came at the '19 European Games, where he fell to eventual champion Mahir AMIRSLANOV (AZE). But Uguev won't have to worry about the young Azeri, as he failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Uguev's path to joining fellow Russian lightweight Olympic champions Mavlet BATIROV (' 04) and Djamal OTARSULTANOV (' 12) will have to go through an insanely loaded tier-two field. That group is highlighted by fellow world champion Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) and world medalists Suleyman ATLI (TUR), Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL), Thomas GILMAN (USA), Kumar RAVI (IND) and Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ).

Takahashi has been on a rollercoaster ride filled with mixed emotions since grabbing world supremacy in Paris in '17. He regressed to a bronze medal finish in Budapest and had a tenth-placing showing in Nur-Sultan, but capitalized on his opportunity to qualify Japan for the Olympic Games after he won the '21 World Olympic Qualifier. Then, in early June, the 27-year-old punched his ticket to Tokyo with a special playoff win over Rio Olympic silver medalist Rei HIGUCHI (JPN).

Turkey's ever-improving Atli has been a regular fixture on the 57kg podium over the last few years. The third-seed at 57kg made his world-level debut on the Turkish roster at the '17 World Championships and has since claimed a pair of world medals. Since his breakout performance in Budapest, the 27-year-old has compiled an 8-2 world championship record en route to bronze and silver medal finishes, respectively, at the '18 and '19 World Championships.

Atli will be on the bottom side of the bracket with second-seeded Uguev.

India's Ravi is the fourth-seeded guy at 57kg, so he'll be positioned on the top side of the bracket with Micic.

Ravi, the 24- year-old Haryana product, surprised the field in Nur-Sultan with four presence-announcing wins in his first senior-level world appearance. He dropped a close one in the semifinals against Uguev, but fought back and scored four wins, including top-notch wins over world champion Takahashi and European champion Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM) route to a bronze-medal finish.

Other non-seeded past world-meal threats include Erdenebat, Gilman and Sanayev. 

Sanayev is only two World Championships removed from falling to Uguev by two points in the gold-medal match. Although it was a slight step down, the Chadan, Russian-born Kazakh grasped a second world medal in '19. He fell to Atli in the semifinals but bounced back to beat Micic for world gold.

Erdenebat, a two-time world bronze medalist ('15 and '17), is set to make his second Olympic appearance. The 28-years-old from Ulan Bator punched his ticket to Tokyo with a decisive 6-2 semifinal win over three-time European champion Giorgi EDISHERASHVILI (AZE) at the World Olympic Qualifier in Sofia. He's now looking to improve on his 16th place from Rio.

America's 27-year-old '17 world runner-up Gilman will return to America's world-level roster for the first time since finishing in fifth place at the '18 World Championships. He lost his starting spot to Daton FIX (USA) in '19 but rebounded to his winning ways in '20. The two-time Ranking Series champion won the 57kg title at the '20 Pan American Olympic Qualifier and qualified the USA for Tokyo. He earned his spot on America's Tokyo roster with two wins over '19 junior world silver medalist Vitali ARUJAU (USA) in the U.S. Olympic Trial finals.

Other rising stars who can make some noise at 57kg are Arsen Harutyunyan and Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS).

After struggling with the massive weight cut, Harutyunyan returned to his attack-first mindset. Since that disappointing 16th place finish in Nur-Sultan, the '19 European champion at 61kg has three 57kg medals -- including a gold at the European Olympic Qualifier and a silver medal finish at the Individual World Cup where he dropped the gold-medal match to Uguev.

Iuna Fafe heads into Tokyo riding a two tournament win streak. The 20-year-old stole the show in Hammamet at the Africa and Oceania Olympic Qualifier after beating African silver medalist Gamal MOHAMED (EGY), three-time Commonwealth Games silver-medalist Ebikewenimo WELSON (NGR) and 2016 Rio Olympian Chakir ANSARI (MAR), the 19-year-old pinned two-time African champion Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) in just 57 seconds en route to the 57kg title. He followed that up with a gold-medal performance at the City of Sassari Tournament at the end of June.

Wrestling at the Tokyo Olympic Games kicks off August 1-7 at the Makuhari Messe with 57kg action beginning on August 4.

57kg Entries
No. 1 Stevan Andria MICIC (SRB)
No. 2 Zavur UGUEV (RUS)
No. 3 Suleyman ATLI (TUR)
No. 4 Kumar RAVI (IND)
Nurislam SANAYEV (KAZ)
Reza ATRINAGHARCHI (IRI)
Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS)
Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG)
Thomas GILMAN (USA)
Oscar Eduardo TIGREROS URBANO (COL)
Arsen HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Georgi VANGELOV (BUL)
Gulomjon ABDULLAEV (UZB)
Minghu LIU (CHN)
Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Bekhbayar ERDENEBAT (MGL)

Five-Time Olympic Champ Lopez Joins China as Greco Coach

Monday, March 30, 2026 - 13:12 By United World Wrestling Press

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Mijain LOPEZ, coach Ruis DIAZ, and all members of the Chinese Greco-Roman wrestling team

By Yang Boyi and Wang Chujie for Xinhua News

BEIJING, China (March 30) -- 18 years ago, Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) claimed his first Olympic gold medal in Beijing, launching an unprecedented reign of five consecutive Olympic titles, a feat unmatched in Olympic wrestling history.

Now the 42-year-old Cuban legend has returned to the Chinese capital, not as a competitor, but as a specially recruited foreign coach for China's national Greco-Roman team.

He arrived alongside Raul DIAZ, the lifelong mentor who guided him through the most dominant stretch of his historic career. Both now serve as United World Wrestling (UWW) Development Ambassadors, making this far more than a routine visit.

It is a homecoming to the city where Lopez's legend was forged, and a full-circle moment for two men whose fates have intertwined with Beijing and each other for nearly two decades.

Ruis DIAZRaul DIAZ (CUB) with the Chinese Greco-Roman national team. (Photo: Xinhua News)

Although Diaz and Lopez first bonded in 1999, their fates did not officially intertwine until after Lopez claimed his maiden Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with Diaz then serving as a coach for the Portuguese national team.

In 2010, Diaz returned as Lopez's full-time head coach, guiding him through the next 14 years and four more consecutive Olympic gold medals from London 2012 to Paris 2024, cementing his status as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time.

The 2024 Paris Olympics marked the final chapter of Lopez's storied career. After clinching his historic fifth title, he knelt to kiss the mat and left his shoes on the canvas - the universal ritual of retirement in wrestling.

"That moment was full of mixed emotions. I was overjoyed with the result, but also overwhelmed with sadness, because I had decided to close the book on my career," Lopez told Xinhua through an interpreter.

"I kissed the wrestling mat to express my gratitude for all the achievements in my wrestling career. This mat and my coach made me the champion I am today. I am thankful for all those days and nights we spent training together."

When asked whether Lopez would have won four more Olympic golds and completed the five-peat without his coaching, Diaz is quick to deflect the credit to his pupil's innate talent and unshakable character.

"Lopez is an exceptional athlete, one of a kind. What makes him great is not just his physical strength, but his mental fortitude," said Diaz. "He competes not for money or fame, but for his love for the Cuban people, wrestling and his family."

"He is family to me," Lopez said of his mentor. "A coach is more than an instructor; he is a guide who walks with you through every critical moment. I hope every athlete can experience this kind of profound connection."

Diaz recalled the words Lopez's father said to him on his deathbed: "Please, be a father to Lopez from now on." Over years of close companionship, the pair have become inseparable.

"I can no longer imagine my life without him," Diaz said.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB)Reporter interviewing Mijain LOPEZ (center) and Shen SHIYAN (right), Spanish interpreter for the Chinese Greco-Roman team. (Photo: Xinhua News)

Lifetime to Understand China

For both men, China has never been a distant country. For Lopez, Beijing will always be the starting point of his legend. "I have an immense affection for China. It was here that I won my first Olympic gold, the medal that broke the ice and opened a whole new chapter of my career," he said.

Diaz's connection to China stretches back to childhood, with Chinese classmates and family friends. He still remembers the Chinese couple in Havana's Chinatown who always kept a meal warm for him.

"Those simple acts of kindness made me feel a deep closeness to Chinese people from the very beginning," Diaz recalled.

When Lopez stepped onto the mat in Beijing in 2008, Diaz watched with special pride - not just for his former pupil, but for a country he had long felt a bond with.

"The more you learn about China, the more you realize it may take a whole lifetime to truly understand this country," Diaz observed. "Chinese people are kind, honest and down-to-earth. Some countries refuse to see the real China out of prejudice, but there is no better way to know this country than to come here, to see it with your own eyes."

Passing the Torch

Diaz and Lopez have come to Beijing with a clear mission: to pass on decades of experience and training philosophy to help nurture China's next generation of wrestlers.

Zheng PAN (CHN), head coach of China's Greco-Roman team, noted that Diaz prioritizes efficiency in training. "We have more sessions now, but each is shorter. Raul always emphasizes that athletes must give their absolute all in every minute."

Diaz is full of praise for China's young wrestlers, citing their strength, speed, discipline, intelligence and work ethic. "The most important thing is to train with purpose and focus. Chinese wrestlers have every ability to compete with the top athletes in the world."

Lopez echoed his coach's optimism. "These young wrestlers have a bright future. We are here to give them that extra push, to help them stand firm on the world stage."

18 years ago, Lopez arrived in Beijing as a rising talent and left as an Olympic champion. Now they have returned together as legends, ready to pass on the torch and write a new chapter in the decades-long friendship between Cuban and Chinese wrestling.

In November 2025, Diaz received the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award. Standing beside him to share the honor was his star pupil. "That moment felt like a dream," Diaz said. "I want to give all my love for wrestling, my knowledge, and everything I have to this sport."