#WrestleTirana

U23 World Championships 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (September 30) -- The U23 World Championships will be held in Tirana, Albania from October 21 to 27. This is the second consecutive year that the tournament will be held in Tirana.

More than 650 wrestlers are entered to compete in the event with 240 wrestlers each in Freestyle and Greco-Roman and 184 wrestlers in Women's Wrestling. The tournament will begin with Greco-Roman, followed by Women's Wrestling and Freestyle at the end.

The matches will be live on uww.org and the UWW App.

*Note: The entry list is subject to change with a few countries still left to conduct their selection trials

57kg
Herbert AKAPIAN (AIN)
Lev PAVLOV (AIN)
Manvel KHNDZRTSYAN (ARM)
Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE)
Ivaylo Milenov TISOV (BUL)
Treye Colby TROTMAN (CAN)
Dengburile DENGBURILE (CHN)
Ndjidda BOUBA (CMR)
Luka GVINJILIA (GEO)
SHUBHAM (IND)
Ali Hossein MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI)
Rocco TERRANOVA (ITA)
Gakuto OZAWA (JPN)
Allan ORALBEK (KAZ)
Abdymalik KARACHOV (KGZ)
Jiguur SARANTUYA (MGL)
Stojanche STOJKOV (MKD)
Thomas EPP (SUI)
Muhammet KARAVUS (TUR)
Vladyslav ABRAMOV (UKR)
Maxwell GALLAGHER (USA)

61kg
Bashir MAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Levik MIKAYELYAN (ARM)
Ruslan ABDULLAYEV (AZE)
Fotis PAPADOPOULOS (CAN)
Youhua LIN (CHN)
Elkin ESPANA (SANTA COL)
Daniel RAMIREZ (CRC)
Omar GAZASHVILI (GEO)
Lok Ming TAI (HKG)
NIKHIL (IND)
Ebrahim KHARI (IRI)
Simone PIRODDU (ITA)
Meiryu AKAMINE (JPN)
Adilet ALMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ)
Iukhan DOKTURBEK UULU (KGZ)
Vasile MARCU (MDA)
Arben SEJDI (MKD)
William BETANCOURT (PUR)
Emre KURAL (TUR)
Mykyta ABRAMOV (UKR)
Nicholas BOUZAKIS (USA)

65kg
Anatoli HRAMYKA (AIN)
Ibragim IBRAGIMOV (AIN)
Klevisi PRECI (ALB)
Hayk ABRAHAMYAN (ARM)
Rashid BABAZADE (AZE)
Shannon HANNA (BAH)
Ilyas ABDURASHIDOV (BEL)
Alibeg ALIBEGOV (BRN)
Matias MUNOZ (CHI)
Ning WANG (CHN)
Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY)
Khamzat ARSAMERZOUEV (FRA)
Giorgi SHONIA (GEO)
Jonnathan PEREZ (GUA)
Chi Hin WONG (HKG)
ROHIT (IND)
Abbas EBRAHIMZADEH (IRI)
Kaiji OGINO (JPN)
Bekzat YERMEKBAY (KAZ)
Bilol SHARIP UULU (KGZ)
Pavel GRAUR (MDA)
Wilfredo LOPEZ (PAN)
Yacoub GHAITH (PLE)
Daniel KULCZYNSKI (POL)
Tyler KNOX (PUR)
Daniel SANDU (ROU)
Sulaiman KARGBO (SLE)
Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta HONCHAROV (UKR)
Joshua SAUNDERS (USA)
Umidjon JALOLOV (UZB)

70kg
Mikita DZEMCHANKA (AIN)
Artem GOBAEV (AIN)
Fabian KOCILERI (ALB)
Tigran GHAZARYAN (ARM)
Magomed KHANIEV (AZE)
Yves NISHIMWE (BDI)
Muhammad ABDURACHMANOV (BEL)
Kaloyan ATANASOV (BUL)
Gregor MCNEIL (CAN)
Jorge GATICA (CHI)
Chunchen LIU (CHN)
Davit PATSINASHVILI (GEO)
Tsz Hei HEUNG (HKG)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Sina KHALILI (IRI)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Yernur NURGAZY (KAZ)
Kanat KERIMBEKOV (KGZ)
Egzon XHONI (KOS)
Constantin CHIRILOV (MDA)
Tugsjargal ERDENEBAT (MGL)
Muhamed FERUKI (MKD)
Faisal DANA (PLE)
Mateusz LUSZCZYNSKI (POL)
Eligh RIVERA (PUR)
Mustafo AKHMEDOV (TJK)
Yasin YESIL (TUR)
Narek POHOSIAN (UKR)
Paniro JOHNSON (USA)

74kg
Nikita DMITRIJEVS (AIN)
Arslan BAGAEV (AIN)
Klevis KOCEKU (ALB)
Narek HARUTYUNYAN (ARM)
Bradley FULMER (AUS)
Dzhabrail GADZHIEV (AZE)
Cesar BORDEAUX (BRA)
Magomedrasul ASLUEV (BRN)
Patrik LEDER (CAN)
Pengcheng WANG (CHN)
Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY)
Luka CHKHITUNIDZE (GEO)
Stas WOLF (GER)
JAIDEEP (IND)
Ali REZAEI (IRI)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Murat DZHAKUPOV (KAZ)
Orozobek TOKTOMAMBETOV (KGZ)
Rayanne ESSAIDI (MAR)
Vlad STRATAN (MDA)
Batbayar BATSUKH (MGL)
Ibrahim YAPRAK (TUR)
Mykyta MORHUN (UKR)
Mitchell MESENBRINK (USA)

79kg
Artsiom BELAVUSAU (AIN)
Arsen BALAIAN (AIN)
Altin GANCI (ALB)
Arjan DANAJ (ALB)
Hayk PAPIKYAN (ARM)
Ali TCOKAEV (AZE)
Radomir STOYANOV (BUL)
Nelson OBROU (CAF)
Owen MARTIN (CAN)
Feng LU (CHN)
Juan CARDOZO (COL)
Joona VUOTI (FIN)
Otari ADEISHVILI (GEO)
Amit AMIT (IND)
Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI)
RAFFAELE MATRULLO (ITA)
Masaki SATO (JPN)
Zhengis KANYBEKOV (KAZ)
Mukhammad ABDULLAEV (KGZ)
Gheorghi CARA (MDA)
Mateusz PEDZICKI (POL)
Krisztian BIRO (ROU)
Alie SESAY (SLE)
Umar MAVLAEV (SUI)
Bekir OVEC (TUR)
Vladyslav BODORIAK (UKR)
Patrick KENNEDY (USA)

86kg
Ilya KHAMTSOU (AIN)
Ibragim KADIEV (AIN)
Fateh BENFERDJALLAH (ALG)
Razmik YEPREMYAN (ARM)
Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE)
Taran GORING (CAN)
Ye LI (CHN)
Gabriel IGLESIAS (ESP)
Miko ELKALA (FIN)
Rakhim MAGAMADOV (FRA)
Vladimeri GAMKRELIDZE (GEO)
Joshua MORODION (GER)
Cesar UBICO ESTRADA (GUA)
ASHISH (IND)
Abolfazl RAHMANI (IRI)
Aaron AYZEROV (ISR)
Yudai TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Nurzhan ISSAGALIYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat RAKHIMOV (KGZ)
Eugeniu MIHALCEAN (MDA)
Kweli HERNANDEZ (PUR)
Joshua ALOFIPO (SAM)
Michal VERES (SVK)
Emre CIFTCI (TUR)
Denys BYKOV (UKR)
John GUNDERSON (USA)
Steven RODRIGUEZ (VEN)

92kg
Aliaksei PARKHOMENKA (AIN)
Mustafagadzhi MALACHDIBIROV (AIN)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Abduljalil SHABANOV (AZE)
Aiden STEVENSON (CAN)
Tuxige TUXIGE (CHN)
Mukhammedsultan KOPBAYEV (ESP)
Adlan VISKHANOV (FRA)
Andro MARGISHVILI (GEO)
Gkivi BLIATZE (GRE)
Krisztian ANGYAL (HUN)
Jointy KUMAR (IND)
Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI)
Satoshi MIURA (JPN)
Bekzat AMANGALI (KAZ)
Davids PIROZNIKS (LAT)
Ion DEMIAN (MDA)
Filip SZUCKI (POL)
Nicolaas DE LANGE (RSA)
Muhammed GIMRI (TUR)
Denys SAHALIUK (UKR)
Jacob CARDENAS (USA)

97kg
Uladzislau KAZLOU (AIN)
Sergei KOZYREV (AIN)
Sergey SARGSYAN (ARM)
Aslan ABAKAROV (AZE)
Callum KNOX (CAN)
Aman WULAHATI (CHN)
Merab SULEIMANISHVILI (GEO)
Emmanuel OSEI SARFO (GHA)
Sahil JAGLAN (IND)
Mahdi HAJILOUEIAN (IRI)
Yuta SASAKI (JPN)
Rizabek AITMUKHAN (KAZ)
Radu LEFTER (MDA)
Taron SHAHINYAN (POL)
Rifat Eren GIDAK (TUR)
Ivan PRYMACHENKO (UKR)
Massoma ENDENE (USA)

125kg
Pavel DZIATLAU (AIN)
Abdulla KURBANOV (AIN)
Lyova GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Yusif DURSUNOV (AZE)
Alen KHUBULOV (BUL)
Jorawar DHINSA (CAN)
Yiwei ZHUANG (CHN)
Solomon MANASHVILI (GEO)
Milan KORCSOG (HUN)
Anirudh KUMAR (IND)
Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI)
Toyoki HAMADA (JPN)
Omarkhan NADIROV (KAZ)
Nicolae STRATULAT (MDA)
Batmagnai ENKHTUVSHIN (MGL)
Michal DUBOWSKI (POL)
Jonovan SMITH (PUR)
Omar Ihab SAREM (SYR)
Adil MISIRCI (TUR)
Volodymyr KOCHANOV (UKR)
Lucas STODDARD (USA)

Umi ITO (JPN)Umi ITO (JPN) is the returning champion at 50kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling 

50kg
Natallia VARAKINA (AIN)
Polina LUKINA (AIN)
Elnura MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Kelyn YOUNG (CAN)
Yu ZHANG (CHN)
Justine VIGOUROUX (FRA)
MEENAKSHI (IND)
Umi ITO (JPN)
Laura GANIKYZY (KAZ)
Vestina DANISEVICIUTE (LTU)
Zineb ECH CHABKI (MAR)
Munkhgerel MUNKHBAT (MGL)
Yusneiry AGRAZAL (PAN)
Natalia WALCZAK (POL)
Ana PIRVU (ROU)
Svenja JUNGO (SUI)
Khrystyna BASYCH (SVK)
Yi Hui LIN (TPE)
Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN)
Zehra DEMIRHAN (TUR)
Nataliia KLIVCHUTSKA (UKR)
Sage MORTIMER (USA)
Mariana ROJAS (VEN)

53kg
Viktoryia VOLK (AIN)
Olga OVCHINNIKOVA (AIN)
Esmeralda NELA (ALB)
Serena DI BENEDETTO (CAN)
Xiaomin XIE (CHN)
Yusmy CHAPARRO URREGO (COL)
Anastasia BLAYVAS (GER)
TAMANNA (IND)
Yu SAKAMOTO (JPN)
Zeinep BAYANOVA (KAZ)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Ellen OESTMAN (SWE)
Sila AYKUL (TUR)
Liliia MALANCHUK (UKR)
Elena IVALDI (USA)

55kg
Aliaksandra BULAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia IANDUSHKINA (AIN)
Gultakin SHIRINOVA (AZE)
Victoria SEAL (CAN)
Antonia VALDES ARRIAGADA (CHI)
Ying LU (CHN)
Amory ANDRICH (GER)
Roza SZENTTAMASI (HUN)
Sito SITO (IND)
Karina HONDA (JPN)
Ainur ASHIMOVA (KAZ)
Aruuke KADYRBEK KYZY (KGZ)
Zeltzin HERNANDEZ (MEX)
Otgontuya BAYANMUNKH (MGL)
Emma MALMGREN (SWE)
Tuba DEMIR (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Amani JONES (USA)

57kg
Marta HETMANAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia KOZLOVA (AIN)
Zhala ALIYEVA (AZE)
Mia FRIESEN (CAN)
Shuang HAN (CHN)
Reena REENA (IND)
Ruka NATAMI (JPN)
Shugyla OMIRBEK (KAZ)
Sezim ZHUMANAZAROVA (KGZ)
Mihaela SAMOIL (MDA)
Bertha ROJAS (MEX)
Patrycja STRZELCZYK (POL)
Jana PETROVIC (SRB)
Emine CAKMAK (TUR)
Alina FILIPOVYCH (UKR)
Sofia MACALUSO (USA)

59kg
Alesia HETMANAVA (AIN)
Anastasiia SIDELNIKOVA (AIN)
Gular HABIBOVA (AZE)
Gabriela CROSS (CAN)
Kexin HONG (CHN)
Alexa CUERO (COL)
Tsz Ying HEUNG (HKG)
Pushpa YADAV (IND)
Aurora RUSSO (ITA)
Himeka TOKUHARA (JPN)
Guldana BEKESH (KAZ)
Gabriele DILYTE (LTU)
Zineb HASSOUNE (MAR)
Khulan BYAMBASUREN (MGL)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Julia NOWICKA (POL)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Skye REALIN (USA)

62kg
Yana TRETSIAK (AIN)
Alina KASABIEVA (AIN)
Ruzanna MAMMADOVA (AZE)
Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI)
Jolie BRISCO (CAN)
Zaixue RUI (CHN)
Grace ABONA NKOUMOUDIE (CMR)
Viktoria VESSO (EST)
Iris THIEBAUX (FRA)
Nitika NITIKA (IND)
Nagisa ITO (JPN)
Tynys DUBEK (KAZ)
Kalmira BILIMBEKOVA (KGZ)
Alina ANTIPOVA (LAT)
Ineta DANTAITE (LTU)
Khongorzul BOLDSAIKHAN (MGL)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Olha PADOSHYK (POL)
Karoline ORTIZ (PUR)
Selvi ILYASOGLU (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Macey KILTY (USA)
Astrid MONTERO (VEN)

65kg
Kseniya TSIARENIA (AIN)
Amina TANDELOVA (AIN)
Kleona SHABANI (ALB)
Angelina ELLIS TODDINGTON (CAN)
Liuxuan CHEN (CHN)
Karolina POK (HUN)
Antim ANTIM (IND)
Laura GODINO (ITA)
Rin TERAMOTO (JPN)
Guldana OSSERBAY (KAZ)
Dilnaz SAZANOVA (KGZ)
Irina RINGACI (MDA)
Gantsetseg BATSUKH (MGL)
Ingrid SKARD (NOR)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Masa PEROVIC (SRB)
Hsin Ping PAI (TPE)
Nesrin BAS (TUR)
Sofiia KUSHNIR (UKR)
Adaugo NWACHUKWU (USA)

68kg
Alina SHAUCHUK (AIN)
Elizaveta PETLIAKOVA (AIN)
Aleah NICKEL (CAN)
Yati GU (CHN)
Nicoll PARRADO (COL)
Veronika VILK (CRO)
Sophia SCHAEFLE (GER)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
PRIYANKA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Beibit SEIDUALY (KAZ)
Nurzat NURTAEVA (KGZ)
Luciana BEDA (MDA)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Maria PANTIRU (ROU)
Emilija JAKOVLJEVIC (SRB)
Zsuzsanna MOLNAR (SVK)
Ayse ERKAN (TUR)
Manola SKOBELSKA (UKR)
Brooklyn HAYS (USA)

72kg
Viktoryia RADZKOVA (AIN)
Olesia BEZUGLOVA (AIN)
Vianne ROULEAU (CAN)
Yuqi LIU (CHN)
Maria CEBALLOS (COL)
Milla ANDELIC (CRO)
Lilly SCHNEIDER (GER)
Amruta PUJARI (IND)
Vincenza AMENDOLA (ITA)
Yuka FUJIKURA (JPN)
Anastassiya PANASSOVICH (KAZ)
Tsogzolmaa DORJSUREN (MGL)
Daniela TKACHUK (POL)
Bukrenaz SERT (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Kylie WELKER (USA)

76kg
Olga KOZYREVA (AIN)
Brianna FRASER (CAN)
Meile ZHANG (CHN)
Marta PAJULA (EST)
Laura KUEHN (GER)
Zsofia VIRAG (HUN)
PRIYA (IND)
Nodoka YAMAMOTO (JPN)
Alina YERTOSTIK (KAZ)
Sandra GUERRERO (PUR)
Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN)
Elmira YASIN (TUR)
Mariia ORLEVYCH (UKR)
Yelena MAKOYED (USA)

Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)Paris Olympic bronze medalist Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) is entered at 87kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Maksim STUPAKEVICH (AIN)
Adam ULBASHEV (AIN)
Andi MUCA (ALB)
Armen GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE)
Huoying SHI (CHN)
Cristopher VERASTEGUI (COL)
Tamazi GLONTI (GEO)
Vishvajit MORE (IND)
Ali AHMADI VAFA (IRI)
Daisuke MORISHITA (JPN)
Yerbol KAMALIYEV (KAZ)
Leonid MOROZ (MDA)
Emre MUTLU (TUR)
Ivan STEFANSKYI (UKR)
William SULLIVAN (USA)

60kg
Zakhar YANEVICH (AIN)
Dinislam BAMMATOV (AIN)
Armen SUKIASYAN (ARM)
Nihad GULUZADE (AZE)
Ziyue XI (CHN)
Ronaldo SANCHEZ (COL)
Pridon ABULADZE (GEO)
Georgios SCARPELLO (GER)
Ilias ZAIRAKIS (GRE)
SURAJ (IND)
Mohammadmehdi GHOLAMPOUR (IRI)
Kohaku KANAZAWA (JPN)
Doszhan UTEPKALIYEV (KAZ)
Akyl SULAIMANOV (KGZ)
Hassan ALHARTHI (KSA)
Olivier SKRZYPCZAK (POL)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Mert ILBARS (TUR)
Bohdan HRYSHYN (UKR)
Maxwell BLACK (USA)
Alisher GANIEV (UZB)

63kg
Talibsho KHAIBARAU (AIN)
Yurik HOVEYAN (ARM)
Ziya BABASHOV (AZE)
Yunlong HU (CHN)
Tino OJALA (FIN)
Romeo BERIDZE (GEO)
Ankit ANKIT (IND)
Erfan JARKANI (IRI)
Komei SAWADA (JPN)
Nursultan BAZARBAYEV (KAZ)
Mukhammed KALBAEV (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Hector SANCHEZ (MEX)
Bredi SLINKERS (NED)
Mairbek SALIMOV (POL)
Adrian ANTON (ROU)
Bekir ATES (TUR)
Vasyl MYSHANYCH (UKR)
Jonathan GURULE (USA)

67kg
Viachaslau ZHEHALAU (AIN)
Daniial AGAEV (AIN)
Fayssal BENFREDJ (ALG)
Gaspar TERTERYAN (ARM)
Faraim MUSTAFAYEV (AZE)
Hristo VALENTINOV (BUL)
Gavin ELDRIDGE (CAN)
Nestor ALMANZA (CHI)
Kang ZHEN (CHN)
Artur JEREMEJEV (EST)
Yanis NIFRI (FRA)
Diego CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Adam POHILEC (HUN)
Vinayak PATIL (IND)
Ahmadreza MOHSEN NEZHAD (IRI)
Shon NADORGIN (ISR)
Andrea SETTI (ITA)
HARUTO YABE (JPN)
Din KOSHKAR (KAZ)
Razzak BEISHEKEEV (KGZ)
Adomas GRIGALIUNAS (LTU)
Alexandr GURALI (MDA)
Arslanbek SALIMOV (POL)
Niklas Jan OEHLEN (SWE)
Azat SARIYAR (TUR)
Oleh KHALILOV (UKR)
Robert PEREZ (USA)

72kg
Illia VALEUSKI (AIN)
Imran ALIEV (AIN)
Ardit ZENELI (ALB)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ruslan NURULLAYEV (AZE)
Dimitar GEORGIEV (BUL)
Wenhao HU (CHN)
Nilson SINISTERRA (COL)
Luka MALOBABIC (CRO)
Junior BENITEZ ORTIZ (ESP)
Kristo MERILAIN (EST)
Gagik SNJOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi CHKHIKVADZE (GEO)
Arionas KOLITSOPOULOS (GRE)
Krisztofer KLANYI (HUN)
Ashu PAL (IND)
Danial SOHRABI (IRI)
Giovanni ALESSIO (ITA)
Hajime KIKUTA (JPN)
Merey MAULITKANOV (KAZ)
Adilkhan NURLANBEKOV (KGZ)
Vilius SAVICKAS (LTU)
Vasile ZABICA (MDA)
Piotr STOLARCZYK (POL)
Brandon NAVARRO (PUR)
Michael PORTMANN (SUI)
Georgios BARBANOS (SWE)
Furkan ZIRIN (TUR)
Marian HOLUBOVSKYI (UKR)
Justus SCOTT (USA)
Abror ATABAEV (UZB)

77kg
Abdulmasih ABDULMASIH (AIN)
Evgenii BAIDUSOV (AIN)
Klodjan SHEHU (ALB)
Henrik GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Khasay HASANLI (AZE)
Ibrahim TABAEV (BEL)
Yang CHANG (CHN)
Alonso PARRA GARCIA (COL)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Ekke LEITHAM (EST)
Temuri ORJONIKIDZE (GEO)
Samuel BELLSCHEIDT (GER)
Attila TOESMAGI (HUN)
Sagar THAKRAN (IND)
Ali OSKOU (IRI)
Shu YAMADA (JPN)
Temirlan KARATAY (KAZ)
Yryskeldi MAKSATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Hassan BARNAWI (KSA)
Benjamin HANSEN (NOR)
Ludvig GUNHEIM HATLAND (NOR)
Konrad KOZLOWSKI (POL)
Aryan BIN AZMAN (SGP)
Aleksa ILIC (SRB)
Simon BORKENHAGEN (SWE)
Yuksel SARICICEK (TUR)
Mykyta POLITAIEV (UKR)
Hunter GARVIN (USA)
Doniyorkhon NAKIBOV (UZB)

82kg
Uladzislau DUBROUSKI (AIN)
Imam ALIEV (AIN)
Teo SPIRI (ALB)
Erik TER MATEVOSYAN (ARM)
Ismayil RZAYEV (AZE)
Shichang ZHENG (CHN)
Marek VRBA (CZE)
Emad ABOUELATTA (EGY)
Vladimeri KARCHAIDZE (FRA)
Data CHKHAIDZE (GEO)
Deni NAKAEV (GER)
Evangelos BOUKIS (GRE)
Miklos KIRALYHAZI (HUN)
Deepak PUNIA (IND)
Mohammad Aziz NAGHOUSI (IRI)
Leon RIVALTA (ITA)
Daizo TANIZAKI (JPN)
Almir TOLEBAYEV (KAZ)
Bekzat ORUNKUL UULU (KGZ)
Alexandru SOLOVEI (MDA)
Islam ALIEV (POL)
Vasile COJOC (ROU)
Joshua ALOFIPO (SAM)
Alexander JOHANSSON (SWE)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ivan CHMYR (UKR)
Beka MELELASHVILI (USA)
Samandar BOBONAZAROV (UZB)
Daniel BELLO VEGA (VEN)

87kg
Ilya MIALESHCHYK (AIN)
Aues GONIBOV (AIN)
Julijan SHEHU (ALB)
Ruben GEVORGYAN (ARM)
Lachin VALIYEV (AZE)
Ivaylo IVANOV (BUL)
Jie WANG (CHN)
Tomislav BRKAN (CRO)
Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN)
Achiko BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Nikolaos GIAGKOUNIDIS (GRE)
Tejpal TEJPAL (IND)
Yasin Ali YAZDI (IRI)
Yudai KOBORI (JPN)
Baglan KUANYSH (KAZ)
Asan ZHANYSHOV (KGZ)
Gabriel LUPASCO (MDA)
Marcel STERKENBURG (NED)
Exauce MUKUBU (NOR)
Adam GARDZIOLA (POL)
Samet YALDIRAN (TUR)
Vladyslav DIAHILEV (UKR)
Payton JACOBSON (USA)
Brian RUIZ MARIN (VEN)

97kg
Abubakar KHASLAKHANAU (AIN)
Magomed MURTAZALIEV (AIN)
Arshak GEGHAMYAN (ARM)
Murad AHMADIYEV (AZE)
Zichen YANG (CHN)
Kristian LUKAC (CRO)
Richard KARELSON (EST)
Aapo VIITALA (FIN)
Lasha TVILDIANI (GEO)
Anton VIEWEG (GER)
Christos CHATSATOUROV (GRE)
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#WrestleParis

Women's Wrestling at Olympics: 20 years strong

By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (July 8) -- Inside an academy located in the middle of a farm at a village in Haryana, the northern Indian state that’s the country’s wrestling capital, a bunch of teenage girls had scribbled the name of their hero on a wall – Helen MAROULIS (USA).

When women’s wrestling made its Olympic debut, some of these girls were not even born. There were no roads leading up to the academy where they trained until a few years ago — the best way to reach the academy was on foot from the nearest highway exit point roughly a couple of miles away. And internet connectivity was patchy at best.

Yet, the story of Maroulis’s dominance had traveled to this far-flung village and became a part of the folklore. Few stories illustrate better the impact and the reach of women’s wrestling.

In less than three weeks, the eyes of the entire sporting – and wider – world will be fixed on Paris when the Olympic Games get underway. On the mat at the Grand Palais Éphémère in Champ de Mars, more stories of inspiration will unfold, paving the way for many young wrestlers to follow in the footsteps of their heroes.

At the Paris Olympics, women's wrestling will celebrate its 20th year of being at the Games. Back in 2004, when it was included in Athens, there were only four categories. In Paris, as was the case in Tokyo, there will be six — the same as Freestyle and Greco-Roman.

The 2024 Games will also be significant for the officials. As many as 11 female referees will be part of the officials. Back in 1988, it was only one.

AthensWomen's Wrestling at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

Wrestling at the Paris Olympics will also be a symbolic occasion given the key role France played in the evolution of the women’s game. It was at Pas-de-Calais where women’s wrestling took one of its first steps. A club in Calonne-Ricouart was the first to open its doors to women in 1971.

From this tiny space in a region roughly three hours from Paris, women’s wrestling spread in other parts of France before it became a popular activity in the rest of the world.

The seeds that were sown in France have blossomed in countries across the world. As women’s wrestling traveled to Beijing, London, Tokyo and now arrives in Paris – following the journey that began in Athens – it left behind immaculate footprints for young, aspiring children to follow.

Tayla FORD (NZL)Tayla FORD (NZL) is the first wrestler from New Zealand who will compete at the Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

Next month, when the competition gets underway in the French capital, history will be in the offing as Tayla FORD (NZL) will become the first female wrestler from her country to make it to the Olympics.

Ford’s story is one of sheer perseverance, not just hers but even of those around the wrestler. Her father, a high school wrestler, got Ford into wrestling after it was included in the Olympics programme. He had a mat installed in their garage and every day, the father and daughter trained.

In a way, Ford’s story is similar to the wrestlers from the Olympic women’s wrestling’s undisputed powerhouse, Japan.

The queen of wrestling, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN), began her journey in the same way. Before she went on to win every title there was to win – three Olympic gold medals, 13 World Championship titles, four Asian Games and Asian Championship gold medals each – Yoshida learnt the art at home.

Her father built a dojo at home where Yoshida, began to wrestle before she could even run properly. The rest, as they say, is history. The rise of Kaori ICHO (JPN), who went 13 years without a loss, followed a similar arc. And so do the stories of the other Japanese women, from Risako KAWAI to Yui SUSAKI.

Not to forget Icho, who won four gold medals at the Olympics, becoming the first Olympic athlete to win four golds in the same individual sport.

In Athens 20 years ago, Japan won only 2 gold medals. Since then, they have won 13. This level of dominance is rare to see in any sport. One of the few countries that’s consistently come close to challenging Japan’s dominance, and been a thorn in their flesh when it comes to a clean sweep of gold medals, is the USA.

Remarkably, the USA did not even compete at the World Championships until 1989, two years after the first edition for women took place. But once they landed on the scene, they took everyone by storm.

Afsoon JOHNSTON (USA) – who won a bronze medal – Asia DEWEESE (silver) and Leia KAWAII (silver) finished on the podium in 1989 and became sort of the pioneers of women’s wrestling in the US. Since then, there hasn’t been a time when the athletes from the Olympic powerhouse haven’t been among the medals.

The rise of women’s wrestling in the US is also a fascinating story, with nearly 50,000 girls competing in high school championships last year. Those young girls saw the wrestling stars from the country on television and decided to tread the same path they’d chosen.

A major reason for the surge in popularity in the US has been wrestlers like Maroulis. Her gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 – the first American woman to achieve that feat – is seen as one of the big milestones that gave the sport a massive push.

Maroulis’s feat didn’t just inspire children in the US. The story traveled the world over, including a remote village in India. If anything, it showcased the sport’s transcending influence.