#WrestleUfa

#WrestleUfa Junior World Championship Entries

By Eric Olanowski

UFA, Russia (August 12) --- After a 729-day layoff due to the worldwide pandemic, United World Wrestling will host the Junior World Championships for the first time since the '19 Tallinn Junior Worlds. 

Over 500 athletes from 52 different nations will compete in Ufa, Russia, August 16-22 for junior world gold. Freestyle kicks off the schedule of events next Monday, with women's wrestling and Greco-Roman action following.

Freestyle
57kg
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Kiryl PRAKOPAU (BLR)
Giorgi GEGELASHVILI (GEO)
Ioannis MARTIDIS (GRE)
Shubham SHUBHAM (IND)
Ali Abolfazl GHOLI ZADEGAN KOLOUKHI (IRI)
Simone Vincenzo PIRODDU (ITA)
Assylzhan YESSENGELDI (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Demian LIUTCANOV (MDA)
Dashtseren PURVEE (MGL)
Ramazan BAGAVUDINOV (RUS)
Hasintha Madhushika De Silva DUNUHINGA (SRI)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Richard FIGUEROA II (USA)

61kg
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Abulfaz NASIROV (AZE)
Ivan HRAMYKA (BLR)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Omar GAZASHVILI (GEO)
Ravinder RAVINDER (IND)
Rahman Mousa AMOUZADKHALILI (IRI)
Salamat MALIKOV (KAZ)
Aktan DOORONBEKOV (KGZ)
Pavel ANDRUSCA (MDA)
Battulga RAASH (MGL)
Bartosz Krzysztof SOLTYS (POL)
Fedor BALTUEV (RUS)
Lahiru Sumindya Fernando WANNAKU WATHTHA WADUGE (SRI)
Khairullo KULULOV (TJK)
Hamza ZOPALI (TUR)
Jesse Wayne MENDEZ (USA)

65kg
Davit MARGARYAN (ARM)
Ziraddin BAYRAMOV (AZE)
Anatoli HRAMYKA (BLR)
Lachlan Maurice MCNEIL (CAN)
Fathi Tarek Fathi Attia ISMAIL (EGY)
Giorgi TCHOLADZE (GEO)
Marcell BUDAI KOVACS (HUN)
Rohit ROHIT (IND)
Seyedhassan Seyedhossein EBADIMERMETI (IRI)
Bekzat YERMEKBAY (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Viljams LUTKEVICS (LAT)
Alin CIORICI (MDA)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Piotr Patryk SOBOLEWSKI (POL)
Shamil MAMEDOV (RUS)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Burak SININ (TUR)
Saif Mubarak Belal Saeed ALMESMARI (UAE)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
Beau Reynald BARTLETT (USA)

70kg
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Benedikt HUBER (AUT)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (BLR)
Ivan Nikolaev STOYANOV (BUL)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Simon Jakob MONZ (GER)
Jonnathan Alejandro PEREZ CASTELLANOS (GUA)
Jaideep JAIDEEP (IND)
Erfan Mohammad ELAHI (IRI)
Asset BAUYRZHANOV (KAZ)
Alikhan ALISHER UULU (KGZ)
Stanislav NOVAC (MDA)
Stanislav SVINOBOEV (RUS)
Viktor Stiven VOINOVIC (SRB)
Anthony Chamoth Nethmina PETER COOREGE DON (SRI)
Kevin Gerry MAKOTA STROEM (SWE)
Jafarbek QURBONOV (TJK)
Mevlut OZDEMIR (TUR)
Bryce Parker ANDONIAN (USA)

74kg
Armen MUSIKYAN (ARM)
Joseph James Granich FALLON (AUS)
Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE)
David KISIYEU (BLR)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Stas David WOLF (GER)
Balint BALAZS (HUN)
Yash YASH (IND)
Sobhan Hooshang YARI (IRI)
Nurdaulet KUANYSHBAY (KAZ)
Stambul ZHANYBEK UULU (KGZ)
Daniels BENDIKS (LAT)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Patryk KOSTRZEWSKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Idar KHATANOV (RUS)
Ushan Nadishka MUTHUGAL PEDIGE (SRI)
Saidasan ASHRAFKHONOV (TJK)
Taner GARIP (TUR)
Keegan Daniel OTOOLE (USA)

79kg
Ashraf ASHIROV (AZE)
Dzmitry DZENISENIA (BLR)
Carson Barry LEE (CAN)
Saifeldin Shokry Mohamed Mahmoud ELKOUMY (EGY)
Bagrati GAGNIDZE (GEO)
Richard SCHROEDER (GER)
Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE)
Baliyan GOURAV (IND)
Mohammad Ashghar NOKHODILARIMI (IRI)
Makhambet NURZHAUBAYEV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Osmans DZASEZEVS (LAT)
Lilian BALAN (MDA)
Munkhdavaa BAYARMUNKH (MGL)
Damian Daniel KORBUS (POL)
Arno VAN ZIJL (RSA)
Alik BADTIEV (RUS)
Jinuka Lankaja ABEYAGUNASEKARA (SRI)
Abubakr SHUKUROV (TJK)
Ismail KUCUKSOLAK (TUR)
Ruslan AKHMETKHANOV (UKR)
Donnell Russell WASHINGTON JR (USA)

86kg
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Sagadulla AGAEV (AZE)
Ilya KHAMTSOU (BLR)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Daviti KOGUASHVILI (GEO)
Joshua Philipp David MORODION (GER)
Cesar Andres UBICO ESTRADA (GUA)
Vetal Audumbar SHELKE (IND)
Amirhossein Biglar FIROUZPOURBANDPEI (IRI)
Islyambek ILYASSOV (KAZ)
Samatbek STANBEK UULU (KGZ)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Temuujin MENDBILEG (MGL)
Islam KARTOEV (RUS)
Avindu Srilak WANNIARACHCHI (SRI)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)
Colton Gregory HAWKS (USA)

92kg
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Uladzislau KAZLOU (BLR)
Juho Joel Eemeli RUUSILA (FIN)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Johannes MAYER (GER)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Krisztian Gabor ANGYAL (HUN)
Pruthviraj Babasaheb PATIL (IND)
Mahdi Moharamali HAJILOUEIANMORAFAH (IRI)
Bekzat URKIMBAY (KAZ)
Nurbolot ADYL UULU (KGZ)
Dmitrii DUSCOV (MDA)
Bayarbaatar NERGUIBAATAR (MGL)
Nicolaas Johannes Steyn DE LANGE (RSA)
Ivan KIRILLOV (RUS)
Sethusha Ruwel Vishmika Senanayake WADDUWA PALLIYA GURUNNANSELAGE DON (SRI)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR)
Rocky Joseph ELAM (USA)
Mukhammadrasul RAKHIMOV (UZB)

97kg
Khasay YUSIFOV (AZE)
Aliaksei PARKHOMENKA (BLR)
Luka KHUTCHUA (GEO)
Charalampos AFTOFORIDIS (GRE)
Milan Andras KORCSOG (HUN)
Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
Ali Reza Abbasali ABDOLLAHI (IRI)
Yunus GAFUROV (KAZ)
Baiaman MYKTYBEKOV (KGZ)
Olegs ROMANOVSKIS (LAT)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Myagmarsuren AMARSANAA (MGL)
Soslan DZHAGAEV (RUS)
Polat POLATCI (TUR)
David MCHEDLIDZE (UKR)
Braxton James AMOS (USA)

125kg
Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Aydin AHMADOV (AZE)
Danila DANILOV (BLR)
Georgi Lyubomirov IVANOV (BUL)
Ahmed Mahmoud Elsayed Mohamed KHALIL (EGY)
Giorgi CHIKHRADZE (GEO)
Csaba UBORNYAK (HUN)
Kumar ANIRUDH (IND)
Ali Mohammadebrahim AKBARPOURKHORDOUNI (IRI)
Bekzat TAZHI (KAZ)
Arslanbek TURDUBEKOV (KGZ)
Batmagnai ENKHTUVSHIN (MGL)
Jakub CZERCZAK (POL)
Andrei BESTAEV (RUS)
Efe Anil AL (TUR)
Wyatt Avery HENDRICKSON (USA)


Greco-Roman
55kg
Garnik HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Elmir ALIYEV (AZE)
Artsiom KATSAR (BLR)
Denis Krasimirov DEMIROV (BUL)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Kumar ANUP (IND)
Amirreza Mohammadreza DEHBOZORGI (IRI)
Melkamu FETENE (ISR)
Iskhar KURBAYEV (KAZ)
Akyikat KULZHIGIT UULU (KGZ)
Kaspars BONDARENKO (LAT)
Snorre Harsem LUND (NOR)
Denis Florin MIHAI (ROU)
Pavel BELKIN (RUS)
Aslamdzhon AZIZOV (TJK)
Adem Burak UZUN (TUR)
Vasyl MYSHANYCH (UKR)
William Dennis SULLIVAN IV (USA)

60kg
Suren AGHAJANYAN (ARM)
Nihat Zahid MAMMADLI (AZE)
Hleb MAKARANKA (BLR)
Edmond Armen NAZARYAN (BUL)
Ahmed Fouad Fouad Hussein BAGHDOUDA (EGY)
Tino Tapio OJALA (FIN)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Vikas VIKAS (IND)
Saeid Morad Gholi ESMAEILI LEIVESI (IRI)
Abere FETENE (ISR)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Baktiiar AKBERDIEV (KGZ)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Miguel Angelo LOUREIRO DOS SANTOS (POR)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (RUS)
Firuz MIRZORAJABOV (TJK)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Nicholas Pierce BOUZAKIS (USA)

63kg
Gevorg SUKIASYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Maksim STUPAKEVICH (BLR)
Ilia Dimitrov MUSTAKOV (BUL)
Domagoj CELICEK (CRO)
Kasperi Kristian KAUHANEN (FIN)
Yanis Driss NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Ioannis PETKOS (GRE)
Anil ANIL (IND)
Iman Hossein Khoon MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Dias ASKERBAY (KAZ)
Omurzak TILEKABYLOV (KGZ)
Corneliu RUSU (MDA)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Manuel STOICA (ROU)
Said Khusein BAKAEV (RUS)
Niklas Jan Olov Pontus OEHLEN (SWE)
Ismail ORUCOGLU (TUR)
Oleg KHALILOV (UKR)
Chayse William Roy LAJOIE (USA)

67kg
Sahak HOVHANNISYAN (ARM)
Hasrat JAFAROV (AZE)
Uladzimir KARPIYEVICH (BLR)
Kristijan BOSNJAK (CRO)
Ekke Kou LEITHAM (EST)
Nestori Kalle Mikael MANNILA (FIN)
Gagik Mishai SNJOYAN (FRA)
Luka OCHIGAVA (GEO)
Aaron BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Nikolaos KALAIDOPOULOS (GRE)
Carlos Valerio FUENTES PERALTA (GUA)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
Seyed Danial Seyed Shamsollah SOHRABI (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Din Mukhamed KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Kamil Aleksander CZARNECKI (POL)
Muslim IMADAEV (RUS)
Georgios Michalis BARBANOS (SWE)
Nozimjon SOBIROV (TJK)
Serhat KIRIK (TUR)
Marian HOLUBOVSKYI (UKR)
Dominic John DAMON (USA)

72kg
Shant KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Matthias HAUTHALER (AUT)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Andrei KAVALEUSKI (BLR)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Attila Tamas TOESMAGI (HUN)
Vikas VIKAS (IND)
Amir Ali ABDI (IRI)
Ariell SOSUNOV (ISR)
Abdiazim KARABAYEV (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Eimantas VILIMAS (LTU)
Diogo Alexandre FERREIRA CANILHAS (POR)
Evgenii BAIDUSOV (RUS)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Sheroz OCHILOV (TJK)
Omer Can DOGAN (TUR)
Vladyslav YEVTUSHENKO (UKR)
Justus Rian SCOTT (USA)

77kg
Samvel GRIGORYAN (ARM)
Eljan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Aliaksei PIAKHOTA (BLR)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Emad Ashraf Mohamed ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Robyn PAULBERG (EST)
Jonni Kunnari SARKKINEN (FIN)
Giorgi SHPETISHVILI (GEO)
Andreas VASILAKOPOULOS (GRE)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Deepak DEEPAK (IND)
Mohammadhossein Rezaali AZARMDOKHT (IRI)
David ZHYTOMYRSKY (ISR)
Omar SATAYEV (KAZ)
Rassul ZHUNIS (KAZ)
Bakdaulet EGENBERDIEV (KGZ)
Alexandrin GUTU (MDA)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Konrad Lukasz KOZLOWSKI (POL)
Vasile Daniel COJOC (ROU)
Ravdan DZHUDZHINOV (RUS)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Matthew Arthur SINGLETON (USA)

82kg
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Mikhail KHACHATURAU (BLR)
Ondrej HAVELKA (CZE)
Fares Mohamed Abdelsattar GHALY (EGY)
Robin USPENSKI (EST)
Saba MAMALADZE (GEO)
Kevin GREMM (GER)
Dominik Andras MEZEI (HUN)
Ravi MALIK (IND)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Azimkhon ABDALIYEV (KAZ)
Zhenish ZHUMABEKOV (KGZ)
Semion BREKKELI (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Adam Mateusz GARDZIOLA (POL)
Amirkhan TSECHOEV (RUS)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)
Mykyta ALIEKSIEIEV (UKR)
Jonathon Crag FAGEN (USA)

87kg
Fadi ROUABAH (ALG)
Vigen NAZARYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Dzmitry SALAUYANAU (BLR)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Kevin USPENSKI (EST)
Giorgi METREVELI (GEO)
Lucas Alexandros LAZOGIANIS (GER)
Patrik Janos MEZEI (HUN)
Sonu SONU (IND)
Ali Ramezanali ABEDIDARZI (IRI)
Maksat SAILAU (KAZ)
Nartu ABDURAKHMANOV (KGZ)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Tyrone STERKENBURG (NED)
Mukhammad EVLOEV (RUS)
Mario VUKOVIC (SRB)
Algot Lennart Botvid KAELLMAN (SWE)
Tansel Can ORTUCU (TUR)
Oleksandr PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Kodiak Gary STEPHENS (USA)

97kg
Hayk KHLOYAN (AZE)
Pavel HLINCHUK (BLR)
Vinko PRODANOVIC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Antti Henrik Juhani HAANPAEAE (FIN) 
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Anton Erich VIEWEG (GER)
Apostolos Panagiotis TSIOVOLOS (GRE)
Narinder CHEEMA (IND)
Morteza Rasoul ALGHOSI (IRI)
Yerzat YERLANOV (KAZ)
Arkyt OROZBEKOV (KGZ)
Ignas BUKAUSKAS (LTU)
Marcus WORREN (NOR)
Igor SHEPETUN (POL)
Aleksei MILESHIN (RUS)
Mustafa OLGUN (TUR)
Yurii DOROHAN (UKR)
Braxton James AMOS (USA)

125kg
Razmik KURDYAN (ARM)
Sarkhan MAMMADOV (AZE)
Mikita KAVALSKI (BLR)
Marcel ALBINI (CZE)
Mate GOKADZE (GEO)
Nikolaos NTOUNIAS (GRE)
Adolf BAZSO (HUN)
Parvesh PARVESH (IND)
Amirmohammad Mahdi BAYAT (IRI)
Assylbek ZHANIBEKULY (KAZ)
Erlan MANATBEKOV (KGZ)
Tomasz Jacek WAWRZYNCZYK (POL)
Armen CHOLOKIAN (RUS)
Muhammet Hamza BAKIR (TUR)
Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR)
Luke Andrew LUFFMAN (USA)

Women's Wrestling
50kg
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Natallia VARAKINA (BLR)
Shaimaa Atef Barakat MOHAMED (EGY)
Simran SIMRAN (IND)
Ayazhan MARKASHEVA (KAZ)
Nazik MIRLAN KYZY (KGZ)
Enkhzul BATBAATAR (MGL)
Natalia Edyta WALCZAK (POL)
Georgiana Lavinia ANTUCA (ROU)
Viktoriia ALEKSANDROVA (RUS)
Ellen Inger Kristina OESTMAN (SWE)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Emily King SHILSON (USA)

53kg
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Aliaksandra BULAVA (BLR)
Pinki PINKI (IND)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Aizhan SABYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Agata Paulina KAZIMIERCZAK (POL)
Beatrice Ionela FERENT (ROU)
Choigana TUMAT (RUS)
Chamodya Keshani MADURAVALAGE DON (SRI)
Emma Jonna Denise MALMGREN (SWE)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Jaslynn Isabella GALLEGOS (USA)

55kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (BLR)
Antonia Alejandra VALDEZ ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Sito SITO (IND)
Sandugash DYUSSENGALIYEVA (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Anne SVARSTAD (NOR)
Julia Wiktoria NOWICKA (POL)
Anastasiia IANDUSHKINA (RUS)
Melda DERNEKCI (TUR)
Payton Jane STROUD (USA)

57kg
Maryia HULIDA (BLR)
Mansi MANSI (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Nilufar RAIMOVA (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Jannicke Marie STROEMNES (NOR)
Patrycja Ewa STRZELCZYK (POL)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (RUS)
Nethmi Ahinsa Fernando PORUTHOTAGE (SRI)
Nellie Anna Regina FLORENTIN (SWE)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Claire Marie DICUGNO (USA)

59kg
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Aryna MARTYNAVA (BLR)
Jolie Donna Elizabeth BRISCO (CAN)
Anna Hella SZEL (HUN)
Kusum KUSUM (IND)
Madina AMAN (KAZ)
Bermet NURIDIN KYZY (KGZ)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Aleksandra Weronika WITOS (POL)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (RUS)
Ebru DAGBASI (TUR)
Mia Kaur MACALUSO (USA)

62kg
Birgul SOLTANOVA (AZE)
Nadzeya BULANAYA (BLR)
Meiriele CHARAMBA SANTOS HORA (BRA)
Iva GERIC (CRO)
Luisa SCHEEL (GER)
Devi SANJU (IND)
Zhangul BOLD (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Viktoria Miriam OEVERBY (NOR)
Paulina Malgorzata DANISZ (POL)
Alina KASABIEVA (RUS)
Yagmur CAKMAK (TUR)
Korina Alexis BLADES (USA)

65kg
Nigar MIRZAZADA (AZE)
Yana TRETSIAK (BLR)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
Bhateri BHATERI (IND)
Ayazhan TOKTASH (KAZ)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Ingrid Bergh SKARD (NOR)
Zuzanna WOLCZYNSKA (POL)
Amina Roxana CAPEZAN (ROU)
Valeriia TRIFONOVA (RUS)
Khadija JLASSI (TUN)
Seda BASGOL (TUR)
Alara Lea BOYD (USA)

68kg
Alina MIKLASHEUSKAYA (BLR)
Arju ARJU (IND)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Karolina Gabriela KOZLOWSKA (POL)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (RUS)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Amit ELOR (USA)

72kg
Kseniya PATAPOVICH (BLR)
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Lili UJFALVI (HUN)
Saneh SANEH (IND)
Alexandra ZAITSEVA (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Tsogzolmaa DORJSUREN (MGL)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Paula Aurelia Izabela ROTARU (ROU)
Mariam GUSEINOVA (RUS)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Kennedy Alexis BLADES (USA)

76kg
Kseniya DZIBUK (BLR)
Carla LERA CELDA (ESP)
Laura Celine KUEHN (GER)
Eleni PAPADOPOULOU (GRE)
Bipasha BIPASHA (IND)
Dilnaz MULKINOVA (KAZ)
Odbag ULZIIBAT (MGL)
Mariia SILINA (RUS)
Melisa SARITAC (TUR)
Kylie Renee WELKER (USA)

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: For France wrestling trio, Olympics come home. Literally

By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 17) -- To compete at a home Olympics can be an unparalleled career high for the best of athletes. Even more so for the three French wrestlers, for whom the Games have come home — quite literally.

When Koumba LARROQUE, Ameline DOUARRE and Mamadassa SYLLA check in at the Athletes Village in Seine Saint Denis and step on the mat at the picturesque venue in Champs de Mars, it’ll mark a culmination of their stories that took shape just a stone's throw away, at the Club Bagnolet Lutte 93.

 Koumba LARROQUE (FRA)
Koumba LARROQUE (FRA) at Club Bagnolet Lutte 93.

Indeed, there are many wrestling strongholds in France. Dijon, roughly 320 km from Paris, is one such hub that is home to many young stars. And quite a few of them train at France’s National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance — commonly known as INSEP, a facility that’s also designated as the United World Wrestling Center.

However, the presence of wrestling stars who have honed their skills at Bagnolet, the famous Parisian club, in the French team is steeped in symbolism. Not least because it is located close to the two Olympic landmark sites.

But by competing at the home Games, the trio will also carry forward the commune’s century-long wrestling tradition, which also captures the growth of the sport between the two Olympics Paris has hosted.

Ameline DOUARRE (FRA)Ameline DOUARRE (FRA) will compete at Paris Olympics in 62kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

It was exactly a hundred years ago, in 1924, that the Association Sportive et Gymnasnique de Bagnolet reinvented and transformed itself into a sports club, kick-starting a revolution of sorts in the area not too far from Paris’s city center.

Nothing nails down Bagnolet’s wrestling culture more than the fact that, according to a survey on the club’s website, two out of three youngsters wrestled. However, it was only after an agreement was reached with the department of Seine Saint Denis — the heart of the Games where the Athletes Village is located — that the sport really took off and the Club Bagnolet Lutte 93 came into being in its current form in 2005.

From Mélonin NOUMONVI, the 2014 Greco-Roman world champion, to Olympic gold medalist Steeve GUENOT and his bronze medal-winning brother Christophe as well as the latest sensation, the former U20 and U23 world champion Larroque – many French champions have spent key years of their development at the club.

But Larroque, Douarre and Sylla have a chance to do something none of their predecessors could: compete in their own backyard.

Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA)Mamadassa SYLLA (FRA) after his qualification for the 2024 Paris Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Sylla, who discovered wrestling at age 15, finished fifth at the European Championships this year and will compete in the 67 kg Greco-Roman category. Douarre is a last-minute entrant to the draw after withdrawals in the 62 kg weight class.

Sylla, who was a second-choice wrestler for the qualification tournament in Baku, became the first wrestler from France to qualify in Grec-Roman since the 2012 London Games, the last time France won an Olympic medal in wrestling, a bronze by 2008 Beijing champion Steve GUENOT (FRA).

Larroque, though, remains the flag-bearer for French wrestling at the Paris Olympics. Introduced to wrestling at age 9, a youth Olympics medallist at 16, and U23 world champion when she was 19 and a senior worlds silver medallist in the same year, Larroque was destined for greatness.

But her career arc suffered a setback. An injury in the 2018 World Championship final meant she was away from the mat for almost a year. Once she recovered, Larroque looked like a shadow of her past self as she could not manage any podium finishes. And although she made it to Tokyo, she was eliminated after the first round itself.

Paris provides the 68kg wrestler a path to redemption. To finish among medals in front of her family and friends — and a short distance away from her club — would undoubtedly be an unparalleled high in Larroque’s career.