Men's Greco-Roman -60kg
Cuba has won gold at the last two Olympics but it would be a shock here as Kevin de Armas’ (Cuba) best international result was a silver medal in the 2023 Pan-American Games. Kenichiro Fumita (Japan) is a returning medalist from Tokyo where he won silver. He has the complete set of World Championship medals winning bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023, adding to his golds prior to this Olympic cycle. Victor Ciobanu (Moldova) made the semi-finals in Tokyo but did not come home with a medal. He did, however, win the 2021 World Championship and has finished second at the last two European Championships. The 2022 and 2023 World Championships went to Zholaman Sharshenbekov (Kyrgyzstan) after moving up from the -55kg division. He finished second in 2021 and has also dominated the Asian Championships. Mehdi Mohsennejad (Iran) had won silver in the 2021 and 2022 Asian Championships. In 2023, he won the Zagreb event and also reached the World Championship semi-final. Islomjon Bakhramov (Uzbekistan) took a bronze medal in 2023 as well winning the Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev in 2023. The other bronze medalist in 2023 was Cao Liguo (China) improving on his 2022 quarter-final. Murad Mammadov (Azerbaijan) also made the 2022 quarter-finals, having won bronze in 2021. Aidos Sultangali (Kazakhstan) won his second World Championship bronze medal in 2022 and was also the 2021 Asian Championship. Two other bronze medalists from the most recent World Championship will also compete. Enes Basar (Turkey) and Georgii Tibilov (Serbia) both won bronze in the under 63kg category. The Russian wrestlers are hard to judge and it’s Sadyk Lalaev (Russia) competing in this category. He won a Grand Prix in Zurich earlier in the year and won bronze at the 2024 European Championship. Ri Se-ung (North Korea) won bronze at the 2023 Asian Games whilst Raiber Rodriguez (Venezuela) won bronze at the 2023 Pan American Games. Other competitors are Abdelkarim Fergat (Algeria), Jamal Valizadeh (Refugee) and Moamen Ahmed Mohamed (Egypt).
Sharshenbekov is the clear favourite here. He has not lost lately in major competitions and it is hard to pick anyone over him. Fumita is another with a pretty impressive record when it comes to the biggest tournaments. Ciobanu definitely has the talent but can be guilty of making silly mistakes sometimes. The other main contenders are Bakhramov, Liguo, Mammadov, Mohsennejad and Sultangali although Basar being picked might be a sign in itself as Turkey does have a strong hand at this weight. The top half looks like being stronger as Fumita, Mohseenejad and Sharshenbekov are the seeded names. I would have had Mohsennejad medalling and giving Sharshenbekov a real problem but I think Fumita can defeat him. I think Liguo wins silver with Mammadov taking bronze, assuming the draw permits.
🥇Zholaman Sharshenbekov 🇰🇬
🥈Cao Liguo 🇨🇳
🥉Kenichiro Fumita 🇯🇵
🥉Murad Mammadov 🇦🇿
Men's Greco-Roman -67kg
Mohammed Reza Geraei (Iran) will be hoping to repeat as Olympic champion. He has the complete set of World Championship medals at the last three Championships but since winning in 2021, the medal has got worse each time. The silver medalist at the Olympics was Parviz Nasibov (Ukraine) and he won the 2023 Grand Prix event in Zagreb. Another Olympic champion from Tokyo will compete. Luis Orta (Cuba) won in the -60kg division. In 2023 as well as winning continental champions he also the World Championships. He did lose in the semi-finals in Zagreb and also at Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev. Another Olympic medalist from Tokyo is Mohamed Ibrahim El-Sayed (Egypt) who won bronze, but he was bad in the African qualifiers. Ramaz Zoidze (Georgia) lost in the semi-finals in Tokyo, not winning a medal. He did win bronze in the 2021 World Championship. Mate Nemes (Serbia) was the 2022 World Champion and has bronze medals from 2019 and 2023. Another previous world champion is Ryu Han-su (South Korea) who won in 2017. He was the 2022 Asian Championship runner-up. Kyotaro Sogabe (Japan) has also been a runner-up, in 2023. Hasrat Jafarov (Azerbaijan) won at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos and the European Championship. He repeated as European Champion in 2024 and has won every medal but gold at the World Championships. Before him, Murat Firat (Turkey) was the European champion in 2022. Both Slavic Galstyan (Armenia) and Amantur Ismailov (Kyrgyzstan) made the semi-finals of the 2023 World Championships and are former bronze medalists. Nestor Almanza (Chile) and Andreas Montano (Ecuador) were medalists in the Pan-American Championships whilst Souleymen Nasr (Tunisia) medalled in the African Games. Ishak Ghaiou (Algeria), Mamadassa Sulla (France) and Valentin Petic (Moldova) will also compete.
Given his age, Jafarov should still be improving and his results are impressive anyway. Orta did beat him twice in 2023 and his two losses came against someone not in Paris. Nasibov struggled after Tokyo but seems to be rounding back into form and has proven he can beat almost anyone in the field. Nemes and Geraei are both consistent wrestlers who again have beaten top names. Galstyan, Ismailov and Sancho could compete but it is hard to predict them to overcome the big names. Geraei is the total package and I cannot have him nor Nasibov out the medals. Neither man is seeded and everyone will be hoping to avoid them. Orta, especially with his record against Geraei also cannot miss out.
🥇Hasrat Jafarov 🇦🇿
🥈Mohammad Reza Geraei 🇮🇷
🥉Luis Orta 🇨🇺
🥉Parviz Nasibov 🇺🇦
Men's Greco-Roman -77kg
Hungary have an incredibly strong hand here after winning at the last Olympics. Zoltan Levai (Hungary) was the silver medalist at the 2022 World Championship. The champion was Akzhol Makhmudov (Kyrgyzstan) who repeated in 2023 and also won silver in Tokyo. Another 2022 World Champion is Burhan Akbudak (Turkey), up at -82 where he improved on his silver from 2021. He won the 2023 European Championship at -82 as well. The winner of the last three European Championships was Malkhas Amoyan (Armenia) and he is a reigning double bronze medalist at the World Championships after winning a world title in 2021 at -72kg. Aik Mnatsakanian (Bulgaria) is also a former medalist at that weight. He is a workhorse who likes to dictate the tempo and in 2023 won the Ibrahim Moustafa. Saman Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) won at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos in 2023 and the Zagreb Grand Prix in 2024. He is also a double World Championship silver medalist, winning in 2021 and 2023. Another former silver medalist is Adam Vardanyan (Uzbekistan) who won that in 2019. Nao Kusaka (Japan) was a bronze medalist in 2023. Demeu Zhadrayev (Kazakhstan) was a silver medalist at the lower weight in 2017, but he was runner at Ibrahim Moustafa in 2023. Amin Kavianinejad (Iraq) was a semi-finalist in Zagreb in 2023 whilst also finishing runner-up at the Asian Games and Asian Championships. Abdelkrim Ouakali (Algeria) won at the 2019 and 2023 African Games whilst Jair Cuero (Colombia) took the 2024 Pan-American Championships. Yosvanys Pena (Cuba) won the Pan American Championships in 2022 for the third time and finished second in 2023, as well as bronze at the Pan-American Games. Kamal Bey (United States), Jonni Sarkkinen (Finland) and Mahmoud Abdelrahman (Egypt) make up the field.
Hungary have had several impressive combatants over the last few years around this weight but Levai has not impressed me and I think he misses out on a medal. Makhmudov should be the favourite, with only Kusaka having a win over him since the last Olympics. I think Suleymanov and Amoyan are the other two likeliest medalists although both Kavianinejad and Mnatsakanian are the other contenders who I think are likeliest to break into the medal places.
🥇Akzhol Makhmudov 🇰🇬
🥈Malkhas Amoyan 🇦🇲
🥉Nao Kusaka 🇯🇵
🥉Saman Suleymanov 🇦🇿
Men's Greco-Roman -87kg
Zhan Beleniuk (Ukraine) is the reigning Olympic champion and also won silver in 2016. He has shown decent form lately winning bronze at the 2023 World Championships and the 2024 European Championships. Another Olympic medalist competing is Rafig Huseynov (Azerbaijan) who took bronze in Tokyo at -77. He has since been a European and World champion at -82 before moving up to compete here. Mohamed Metwally (Egypt) got to the semi-finals before missing out on a medal in Tokyo. The 2023 World Championship was shared between David Losonczi (Hungary) and Ali Cengiz (Turkey) both improving on their bronzes in 2022. Losonczi pinned Cengiz but it was not confirmed by the ref so Cengiz went on to win the gold. Losonczi was confirmed as a gold medalist by United World Wrestling acknowledging a serious referring mistake. Cengiz was runner-up at the Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev. Alireza Mohmadipiani (Iran) was runner-up in Zagreb earlier in the season. Aleksandr Komarov (Serbia) was a semi-finalist and won the 2024 European Championship. Bachir Sid Azara (Algeria) has dominated the African continental championships in recent years. Nursultan Tursynov (Kazakhstan) was a runner-up in the 2023 and 2024 Asian Championships and he was a semi-finalist at the 2023 World Championship. One of the bronze medal winners in 2023 was Semen Novikov (Bulgaria). Lasha Gobadze (Georgia) won bonze in 2021, having moved up from -82kg where he was the 2019 world champion. There are also former World Championship silver medalists in the field. Kiryl Maskevich (Belarus) won silver in the 2021 World Championship. He was ahead of Arkadiusz Kulynycz (Poland) who took bronze. Another former World Championship medalist is Qian Haitao (China), who won bronze at -82 in 2019. Other contenders are Carlos Munoz (Colombia) and Spencer Woods (United States).
This feels like an open division and I could see as many as 11 different medalists. Beleniuk and Huseynov already have medals and I think I prefer Huseynov to medal again, but it depends on how the weight sits with him. Losonczi has an impressive profile and is probably still improving given his youth, so I think he can win the gold. Cengiz, Tursynov and Novikov won medals at the most recent World Championships whilst Gobadze, Komarov Maskevich and Mohmadpiani have shown the form to take medals. I think the final four end up being Cengiz, Huseynov, Losinczi and Maskevich.
🥇David Losinczi 🇭🇺
🥈Kiryl Maskevich 🇧🇾
🥉Ali Cengiz 🇹🇷
🥉Rafig Huseynov 🇦🇿
Men's Greco-Roman -97kg
Armenia and Iran have both won medals in this division at the last three Olympics. Both medalists from Tokyo will return. Mohammad Hadi Saravi (Iran) won bronze. He was the 2021 world champion and tends to be unflappable. In 2023, he won the Asian Games, Ibrahim Moustafa and Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev and won bronze at the World Championship. Artur Aleksanyan (Armenia) was the silver medalist in Tokyo to complete his Olympic medal set. He has won two World Championships and twice won silver including in 2023. He is also the reigning double European Champion. Kevin Mejia (Honduras) won the Pan-American Championship in 2024. The current world champion is Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba) and he also won the 2023 Pan American Games. Artur Omarov (Czech Republic) lost in the semi-finals of the 2023 World Championship. He also made the semi-finals at Ibrahim Moustafa and Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev. Arbi Savolainen (Finland) was runner-up in Zagreb in 2024 where he lost to Abubakar Khaslakhanau (Belarus). Robert Kobliashvili (Georgia) won bronze when he was down at -87 in both 2017 and 2018. Both Rustam Assakalov (Uzbekistan) and Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (Kyrgyzstan) have medals at the Asian Continental Championships in 2023. Other competitors include Alan Vera (United States), Fadi Rouabah (Algeria), Kim Seung-jun (South Korea), Lucas Lazogianis (Germany), Mindaugas Venckaitis (Lithuania) and Mohamed Ali Gabr (Egypt).
This is one of the weights that seems to have a strong set of top contenders, a level above the rest. Khaslakhanau is one of the next big things but I do feel this comes slightly too soon for him. He, Omarov and Savolainen are the wrestlers most capable of breaking onto the podium. I think it comes down to Aleksanyan, Rosillo, and Saravi. The draw pits Aleksanyan and Rosillo against each other in the semi final. I will edge to Khaslakhanau taking the bronze mainly as the draw has worked out well for him.
🥇Mohammad Hadi Saravi 🇮🇷
🥈Artur Aleksanyan 🇦🇲
🥉Abubaka Khaslakhanau 🇧🇾
🥉Gabriel Rosillo 🇨🇺
Men’s Greco-Roman -130kg
Cuba has won four straight gold medals at the hands of one man Mijain Lopez (Cuba). He would have expected to come up against three-time medalist Riza Kayaalp but instead Hamza Bakir (Turkey) will represent Turkey, Yasmani Acosta (Chile) was a semi-finalist at the Tokyo Olympics and won the Pan-American Championships in 2024 after winning bronze in 2017. Heiki Nabi (Estonia) won World Championship silver in 2017 before taking bronze in 2019. Another World Championship bronze medalist is Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu (Romania) who took bronze in 2022. He was also runner-up at Ibrahim Moustafa in 2023 where he lost to Abdellatif Mohamed (Egypt) who was a bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championship. The 2023 World Champion was Amin Mirzazadeh (Iran) improving on his 2022 silver. He also won the 2023 Asian Games and Asian Championships. In 2022, the Asian Championship winner was Alimkhan Syzdykov (Kazakhstan). He won bronze in the 2023 Asian Games with Meng Lingzhe (China) winning silver. He was also a semi-finalist at the 2023 World Championship. Sabah Shariati (Azerbaijan) won silver at the 2023 European Championships whilst Amine Guennichi (Tunisia) won silver in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 African Championships. Adam Coon (United States) won at the 2019 Pan-American Games and was a silver medalist at the 2018 World Championship. Jello Krahmer (Germany), Kiril Mirov (Bulgaria), Lee Seung-chan (South Korea) and Oussama Assad (Morocco) will also compete.
Mirzazadeh does have an incredible record over the last few years but he has also had a lot of close bouts which means he could be vulnerable. Mohamed, Linghze and Alexuc-Ciurariu are the other largest contenders for the podium. Lopez is obviously a massive contender but can he still do it at his age? He is unseeded which makes this even more difficult. I think he loses at the semi final stage, taking a bronze medal in his final Olympics.
🥇Amin Mirzazadeh 🇮🇷
🥈Meng Lingzhe 🇨🇳
🥉Mijain Lopez 🇨🇺
🥉Abdellatif Mohamed 🇪🇬
Men's Freestyle -57kg
The 2023 world champion was Steven Micic (Serbia) the Michigan alum who won bronze in 2022. He lost to the eventual champion Zelimkhan Abakarov (Albania) who won bronze in 2023. A former Olympic medalist is Rei Higuchi (Japan) who won silver in 2016. He was the 2022 world champion at 61kg before winning silver in 2023 when moving back down to the Olympic weight. Aliabbas Rzazade (Azerbaijan) won in Zagreb in 2023 and also the 2023 European Championship after being runner-up in 2022. The 2024 European Champion was Arsen Harutyunyan (Armenia) who won bronze at the 2023 World Championship having moved down from -63 when he was a double bronze medalist. Meirambek Kartbay (Kazakhstan) made the semi-final in 2023. In 2022, Zou Wanhao (China) made the semis without medalling. He did win the 2023 Polyak Imre & Varga Janos. In 2023, Bekzat Almaz Uulu (Kyrgyzstan) was runner-up at the Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev and a semi-finalist at the Ibrahim Moustafa. Aman Sehrawat (India) won in Zagreb in 2024 as well as the 2023 Asian Championships. Gamal Mohamed (Egypt) won the 2023 African Games with Diamantino Iuna Fafe (Guinea-Bissau) winning the 2022 and 2023 African Championships. Darian Cruz (Puerto Rico) medalled at the 2023 Pan-American Games after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Championship. As did Gulomjon Abdullaev (Uzbekistan) who made the same stage at the Tokyo Olympics. Vladimir Egorov (North Macedonia) was the 2022 European Champion. Spencer Lee (United States) caused a bit of an upset at the US trials before winning the 2024 Pan-American Championship. Roman Bravo-Young (Mexico) is also an American-born wrestler with standout college wins over Micic and UFC fighter Aljamain Sterling.
This is a strong division. Higuchi and Micic are the solid pair given their performance over recent years. Abakarov has also had some very solid results. Harutyunyan is an exciting wrestler to win and is capable of beating some of the best. Other contenders will be Lee, Rzazade and Uulu but others could definitely upset these wrestlers on the way to the podium. Sehrawat is another who will be a horrible draw because of his offensive capability but he is often tactically naive.
🥇Steven Micic 🇷🇸
🥈Arsen Harutyunyan 🇦🇲
🥉Zelimkhan Abakarov 🇦🇱
🥉Aliabbas Rzazade 🇦🇿
Men’s Freestyle -65kg
Haji Aliyev (Azerbaijan) was the Tokyo silver medalist and was runner-up at the 2022 European Championship. The winner there was Iszmail Muszukajev (Hungary). He was a bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championship and became world champion in 2023. In the final, he beat Sebastian Rivera (Puerto Rico) who improved from a semi-final in 2022. Rahman Amouzad (Iran) was the 2022 World and Asian Champion. He is an aggressive wrestler with a strong scramble defence and defended his Asian Championship in 2023 and 2024 by beating Tomor-Ochiryn Tugla (Mongolia). Aside from that defeat, he was transformed in 2023, winning in Zagreb, Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev and Polyak Imre & Varga Janos. He also won at the 2023 Asian Games, beating Amouzad. Islam Dudaev (Albania) was the 2024 European Champion after winning bronze in 2022.The winner of the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa was Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia). The powerhouse with a lethal gut wrench won the 2023 European Championship and was the World Championship bronze medalist. Alejandro Valdes (Cuba) is a double bronze medalist at the World Championship but that was 2017 and 2018. He did win the 2023 Pan-American Games. Zain Rutherford (United States) is a reigning world champion, but that came up at -70. He improved on his silver medal from 2022. Ernazar Akmataliev (Kyrgyzstan) has also come down from -70 where he won bronze in 2022 after taking silver in 2021. Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) doesn’t have much of a record in international competition but he did beat Takuto Otoguro, the reigning Olympic champion to qualify. Austin Gomez (Mexico), Gaku Akazawa (Samoa), Georgii Okorokov (Australia),Goderdzi Dzebisashvili (Georgia) and Maxim Scaltan (Moldova) are the other competitors.
Aliyev will be looking to complete his Olympic set with a gold but I think he is on the decline and will not get the fairytale ending here. Both Retherford and Akmataliev are potential medalists depending on how they adjust to the weight. Muszukajev has the ability to beat everyone but he often cannot keep up his fast starts. Tulga has been especially strong over the last 18 months whilst Dudaev and Tevanyan also have shown their quality. Kiyooka needs to be respected just by virtue of making it through the Japanese qualifiers despite being unseeded whilst Amouzad is a handful with his aggression.
🥇Rahman Amouzad 🇮🇷
🥈Kotaro Kiyooka 🇯🇵
🥉Zain Retherford 🇺🇸
🥉Tomor-Ochiryn Tulga 🇲🇳
Men's Freestyle -74kg
Russia have won a medal at five straight Olympics at this weight but will not be competing. Kyle Dake (United States) won the two world titles prior to 2023, adding to his previous world titles at a higher-weight division. He won silver at the 2023 World Championship and was an Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo. Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Uzbekistan) won the other bronze as well as at the 2018 World Championship and the 2023 Asian Games. The silver medalist in Tokyo was Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau (Belarus) and he also won silver at the 2024 European Championship at -79. The winner of the 2024 European Championship at this weight was Tajmuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) making it three straight gold medals. He was runner-up at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships. Younes Emami (Iran) won bronze in 2022, as he did at a lower weight in 2019. He was the Asian Champion in 2022 and won the Asian Games in 2023. Daichi Takatani (Japan) was a bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championship. The other bronze medalist was Khetag Tsabolov (Serbia). He beat semi-finalist Turan Bayramov (Azerbaijan) who won Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev in 2023. The other semi-finalist, who was defeated in a bronze medal match was Georgios Kougioumtsidis (Greece). Geandry Garzon (Cuba) is a four-time World Championship medalist, but the last of those came in 2010 at -66. The 40-year-old will be one of the older competitors. Viktor Rassadin (Tajikistan) was second in the 2024 Asian Champion whilst Amir Reda Hussen(Egypt) made the quarter-finals at the last Olympics. Other competitors are Anthony Montero (Venezuela), Bacar Ndum (Guinea-Bissau), Chermen Valiev (Albania), Iman Mahdavi (Refugee) and Lu Feng (China)
WIthout Sidakov, this should be the time for Dake to get his shine on the global stage. The rest of the medals will be a battle. Salkazanov has been so impressive in the last few years and I cannot see him missing out. The other contenders with the most chance are Bagramov, Emami, Kadzimahamedau, Takatani, Tsabolov and Valiev.
🥇Kyle Dake 🇺🇸
🥈Tajmuraz Salkazanov 🇸🇰
🥉Turan Bayramov 🇦🇿
🥉Khetag Tsabolov 🇷🇸
Men's Freestyle -86kg
Aaron Brooks (United States) is the American representative having beat reigning Olympic and double World champion David Taylor in the trials. Aside from Taylor, the winner of the other three world titles over the last six is Hassan Yazdani (Iran) and he was the silver medal winner at the Tokyo Olympics. The returning bronze medal winner is Myles Amine (San Marino). He won bronze at the 2033 World Championship and was the 2022 European Champion before finishing runner-up at the last two editions. Dauren Kurugliev (Greece) beat him in both of those finals. Azamat Dauletbekov (Kazakhstan) won bronze medals in the 2022 and 2023 World Championships as well as the Asian Championship crowns. Other World Championship medalists include Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (Georgia) who has moved up from -79 after winning silver in 2023 and Vasyl Mykhailov (Ukraine) who also moved up, having won bronze in 2023. He also won the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa. Osman Nurmagedov (Azerbaijan) won silver at -92 in 2023. He also won bronze in both 2021 and 2022. Magomed Ramazanov (Bulgaria) is a Russian-born wrestler who will be competing. He won in Zagreb in 2024. Javrail Shapiev (Uzbekistan) made the semi-final at the 2023 World Championship and the talented wrestler also won bronze at the 2023 Asian Games. Fateh Benferdjallah (Algeria) won the 2022 and 2023 African Championships. Alex Moore (Canada) and Jayden Lawrence (Australia) both lost in the semi-finals of the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Ethan Ramos (Puerto Rico) was a quarter-finalist at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships. Hayato Ishiguro (Japan) made that stage in 2023 and was runner-up in Zagreb, based on his lethal ground game early. Byambasurengiin Bat-Erdene (Mongolia) is the other competitor.
This is another weight that feels like the top two are on a collision course. Brooks will be under serious pressure, having supplanted Taylor who is a multi-time champion and has a strong record over Yazdani. Brooks is unseeded and will be praying the draw goes well for him. Instead, I think Yazdani can take advantage of the inexperienced American to take gold. Amine is a returning medalists from Tokyo and is not far removed from that level. Aside from that you have Dautbekov and Kurugliev who have impressive results on tour whilst Shapiev looks to have the ability to beat almost anyone.
🥇Hassan Yazdani 🇮🇷
🥈Aaron Brooks 🇺🇸
🥉Azamat Dauletbekov 🇰🇿
🥉Myles Amine 🇸🇲
Men’s Freestyle -97kg
This division has long been a battle between the last Olympic two champions. Kyle Snyder (United States) won gold in 2016 and silver in Tokyo. He has three World Championship golds, two silvers and two bronzes. His arch-rival and one of the best wrestlers in the sport, Abdulrashid Sadulaev will miss the Olympics. Only 21 at the time of the Olympics, Akhmed Tazhudinov (Bahrain) had a sensational 2023, winning the world championship. He is a Dagestani transfer who is absolutely massive and uses his length well. He beat Magomedkhan Magomedov (Azerbaijan) in the final, who improved from his World Championship bronze in 2022. He excels with his body locks and was the European champion in 2022. He lost in the final in both 2022 and 2023 to Givi Matcharashvili (Georgia) who is also a double reigning bronze medallist in the World Championship. Ibrahim Ciftci (Turkey) has won bronze at the last two European Championships. Arturo Silot (Cuba) has been runner-up in three continental tournaments over the last 18 months. Habila Awusayiman (China) was runner-up in both the Asian continental tournaments in 2023. He also was runner-up in the Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev. Zbigniew Baranowski (Poland) was runner-up in the Ibrahim Moustafa whilst Amirali Hamid Azarpira (Iran) was in Zagreb before winning in 2024. Alisher Yergali (Kazakhstan) has been a quarter-finalist in the Tokyo and 2021 and 2023 World Championships. Erik Thiele (Germany) also made the 2023 World Championship quarter-final. Luis Miguel Perez (Dominican Republic), Mostafa El-Ders (Egypt), Murazi Mchedlidze (Ukraine), Nicholas de Lange (South Africa) and Radu Lefter (Moldova) are also competing.
Tazhudinov showed incredible prowess when becoming a senior after a strong junior campaign in Russia. He has only lost once since his transfer to Bahrain and his performance in the World Championship last year was probably the most impressive of anyone which makes it hard to see past him as the favourite. Sadulaev would have been expected to medal. Snyder is a legend but may no longer be at his best. Magomedov and Matcharashvili have split the recent big bouts against each other and it could come down to that. Azarpira is a young wrestler, constantly improving, who has been impressive in 2024. He is a dngerous floater in the draw.
🥇Akhmed Tazhudinov 🇧🇭
🥈Amir Ali Azarpira 🇮🇷
🥉Kyle Snyder 🇺🇸
🥉Magomedkhan Magomedov 🇦🇿
Men’s Freestyle -125kg
The Olympic champion returning will be Taha Akgul (Turkey) who won in 2016 before taking bronze in Tokyo. He was the 2022 world champion and won bronze on either side of that to add to previous silver medals. Geno Petriashvili (Georgia) is another with two Olympic medals in the bag. It was silver in Tokyo and bronze in 2016. He is a three-time world champion who won bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023. He has lost to Akgul in the last three European Championships but the 6’6 wrestler is known for his good gas tank. The other man to have been a recent world champion and Tokyo Olympic medalist is Amir Hossein Zare (Iran). He won bronze in Tokyo and was world champion in 2021 and 2023. He also won the 2023 Asian Games and in Zagreb the last two years, mainly behind his hand-fighting skills. He beat Monkhtoriin Lkhagvagerel (Mongolia) in the Asian Games final but the Mongolian won the 2023 Asian Championship. He was the World Championship silver medalist in 2022, bronze in 2021 and lost in the Tokyo Olympic semi-finals. Deng Zhiwei (China) lost in the quarter-finals in Tokyo but has a World Championship silver from 2018 and a bronze from 2019. Mason Parris (United States) was a bronze medalist in 2023 adding to his Pan-American Games crown. He also won Polyak Imre & Varga Janos and is known for his high output style and knee pulls. Daniel Ligeti (Hungary) was the runner-up at that tournament and was a European Championship bronze medalist in 2022. Giorgi Meshvildishvili (Azerbaijan) won bronze in 2024 and tends to score off scrambles but can be out-hustled by the most physical heavyweights. Yusup Batirmurzaev (Kazakhstan) was runner-up in the 2023 Asian Championship and at 6’5 is a very capable thrower. Aiaal Lazarev (Kyrgyzstan) was runner-up in 2024 as well as bronze medalist in the 2023 Asian Games. Jonovan Smith (Puerto Rico) was runner-up at the 2024 Pan-American Championships. Amar Dhesi (Canada) won the 2022 Commonwealth Games and made the 2022 World Championship quarter-finals. Diaaeldin Kamal (Egypt) has competed at the last two Olympics losing in the second round in 2016 and first round in 2020. Ashton Mutuwa (Nigeria), Robert Baran (Poland) and Yurii Idzinsky (Ukraine) are also competing.
There is an expectation that the medals will go the same way as Tokyo with Parris replacing his American compatriot Gable Stevenson. They are the favourites with Zare the outstanding wrestler. Behind him Akgul has consistently been the next best. I would have predicted him to make the final but they are on path to battle in the semi finals. Of the other two Parris has strong results and given his age is likely still improving. Petriashvili has had some upsets over the last few years and just based on the unlikely nature of the weight class going completely chalk, I think he has to lose. The most likely opponent to win a medal ahead of him is Lkhagvagerel although Zhiwei is both dangerous.
🥇Amir Hossein Zare 🇮🇷
🥈Mason Parris 🇺🇸
🥉Taha Akgul 🇹🇷
🥉Monkhtoriin Lkhagvagerel 🇲🇳
Women’s Freestyle -50kg
Japan have dominated this event lately, mainly thanks to Yui Susaki (Japan) who is the reigning Olympic champion and a quadruple world champion as well as winning in Zagreb for the last two years. The one world title of the last nine that was won by a non-Japanese wrestler was Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan) who took the crown in 2019. She is also a four-time Olympic medalist but still does not have a gold medal. She is also the double reigning European Champion. The 2022 European champion and runner-up in 2024 was Evin Demirhan (Turkey). She was a bronze medalist at the 2017 World Championship. Oksana Livach (Ukraine) was a silver medalist at the 2023 European Championship and was a bronze medalist at the 2018 World Championship. Ziqi Feng (China) was a bronze medal winner at the 2023 World Championship after winning at Ibrahim Moustafa. Sarah Hildebrandt (United States) won at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos. She was an Olympic bronze medalist at Tokyo and has won medals at the last three World Championships. As has Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal (Mongolia), winning silver at the last two. Kim Son-hyang (North Korea) has a bronze medal from 2017 and was runner-up at the 2023 Asian Games. Aktenge Keunimjaeva (Uzbekistan) won the bronze medal at the Asian Games whilst Yusneylys Guzman (Cuba) won the Pan-American Games. Anastasiya Blayvas (Germany) has come down two weight classes from -55 where she was a 2023 World Championship bronze medalist and won the 2024 European Championships. Vinesh Phogat (India) has also come down in weight, but only from -53 where she won the 2022 Commonwealth Games and won bronze medals in both the 2019 and 2022 World Championships. Alisson Cardozo (Colombia), Gabija Dilyte (Lithuania) Ibtissem Doudou (Algeria) and Nada Medani (Egypt) will also compete.
Susaki is potentially the most dominant wrestler who will be seen on the mat in Paris. She did not concede a point in Tokyo and has not lost an international bout. It makes it impossible to pick against her taking gold. Feng has arguably gone closest to troubling Susaki, but that is all relative. She takes silver whilst the next set of favourites come down to Hildebrandt, Otgonjargal and Stadnik. Stadnik is on the downswing of her career but knows how to get it done at the Olympics. They are all on the same side of the draw though which means only one can medal. I think the other side is open and I will tentatively pluck for Livach.
🥇Yui Susaki 🇯🇵
🥈Ziqi Feng 🇨🇳
🥉Dolgorjavyn Otgonjargal 🇲🇳
🥉Oksana Livach 🇺🇦
Women’s Freestyle -53kg
Japan has always had a medalist in this division. That makes reigning world champion Akari Fujinama (Japan) one of the favourites. She also won the world title in 2021 and has dominated the continental tournaments. In the 2023 Asian Games final she beat Pang Qianyu (China) who is a double world championship bronze medalist and also won silver at the Tokyo Olympics.Jonna Malmgren (Sweden) was European champion in 2024, before being runner-up in 2022. She was a World Championship semi-finalist in 2022. It was Maria Pevolaraki (Greece) who Malmgren beat in the 2022 European final. She is a double World Championship bronze medalist, most recently in 2022, reaching the semi final in 2023.The 2022 world champion was Dominique Parrish (United States). Antim Panghal (India) was a bronze medalist in 2023 when she also lost in the Asian Championship to Fujinama. Lucia Yepez (Ecuador) won the other 2023 World Championship bronze, as well as winning her continental tournaments and Ibrahim Moustafa. Batkhuyagiin Khulan (Mongolia) won the 2023 Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev and in 2022 was the silver medalist in the World Championship and Asian Championship. Betzabeth Arguello (Venezuela) has been a consistent medalist in the continental tournaments. Choe Hyo-gyong (North Korea) won bronze at the 2023 Asian Games whilst Zeynep Yetgil (Turkey) managed that at the 2024 European Championship. She was a quarter-finalist at the 2021 and 2022 World Championships. Andreea Ana (Romania) was a quarter-finalists in 2024. Mariana Dragutan (Moldova) won silver but up at -55 where she also won World Championship bronze in 2023. Annika Wendle (Germany), Christianah Ogunsanya (Nigeria) and Mia-Lahnee Aquino (Guam) will also compete.
This feels like a more open division although again it is dominated by the Japanese wrestler. Fujinama is probably going to be attempting to go through the Olympics without conceding a point. Yepez was the only one who scored against her in 2023 and the young Ecuadorean is a threat. She is constantly competing and that experience will stand her in good stead here. Khulan has a strong record and to be the Mongolian representative here says a lot about her ability. Malmgren and Prevolaraki are the strongest of the European representatives. Parrish is the other contender but you can poke holes in her form over the last 18 months.
🥇Akari Fujinama 🇯🇵
🥈Batkhuyagiin Khulan 🇲🇳
🥉Lucia Yepez 🇪🇨
🥉Emmal Malmgren 🇸🇪
Women’s Freestyle -57kg
Tsugumi Sakurai (Japan) will only be 22 but enters as the reigning world champion having won a championship in the last three events. The first one, in 2021, did come at -55kg. Helen Maroulis (United States) was the world champion in this weight in 2021 and has since won silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023. She was the Olympic gold medalist at -53 in 2016 and won bronze in Tokyo. Boldsaikhan Khongorzul (Mongolia) lost in the Tokyo quarter finals. Luisa Valverde (Ecuador) won at the 2023 Pan American Games and made the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics at -55. Kexin Hong (China) had an impressive 2023, often medalling in competitions without taking gold but did win in Zagreb earlier this year. Alina Hrushyna (Ukraine) won the 2023 Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev event. She is also a double European champion and won bronze at the 2022 World Championships. The bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championship was Angelina Lysak (Poland) who was a bronze medalist at the 2024 European Championship whilst Sandra Paruszewski (Germany) won bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023 at -59. Anshu Malik (India) was the runner-up in the 2021 World Championship and also at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Hannah Taylor (Canada) was a bronze medalist there and won silver in the 2023 Pan-American Games. Giulia Penalber (Brazil) was the champion and was runner-up in the last two Pan-American Championships. Odunayo Adekuoroye (Nigeria) won the Commonwealth Games and was also a bronze medalist at the 2019 and 2023 World Championships after moving up from -55. Anastasia Nichita (Moldova) beat Adekuoroye at the Tokyo Olympics and has moved down from -59 where she was the 2022 World Champion. She was runner-up in her new division in 2022. Aurora Russo (Italy), Chaimaa Aouissi (Algeria) and Rckaela Aquino (Guam) are also competitors.
Sakurai is the deserved favourite and it is hard to see her losing but she is not the level of favourite as the aforementioned Japanese wrestlers. Adekuoroye has a strong set of results but she also entered Tokyo with a real chance and disappointed when losing in the opening round. That loss did come against Nichita, which certainly isn't a bad sign as Nichita has become one of the most consistent performers on the circuit. Maroulis is an American legend but the performances are certainly on the wane. Hrushyna and Lysak are the other obvious threats whilst Hong has a great record over the last two years but didn’t perform well at the World Championships.
🥇Tsugumi Sakurai 🇯🇵
🥈Anastasia Nichita 🇲🇩
🥉Alina Hrushyna 🇺🇦
🥉Odunayo Adekuoroye 🇳🇬
Women’s Freestyle -62kg
Japan has won gold every time this event has been competed. Sakura Motoki (Japan) has won medals at the last two World Championships. Bronze in 2022 and silver in 2023, as well as winning in Zagreb. Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan) has won three of the last four World Championships and was an Olympic silver medalist in Tokyo. She won the Ibrahim Moustafa and Polyak Imre & Varga Janos in 2023 as well as taking the Zagreb event in 2024. She beat Kayla Miracle (United States) who won the 2024 Pan-American Championship. She was the winner of the World Championship silver medal in 2021 and 2022. Ana Godinez (Canada) lost in the 2024 Pan-American Championship final and is a former World Championship semi-finalist. In 2023, that was Luisa Niemesch (Germany) and she has won silver medals at two of the last three European Championships. The other silver medalist was Grace Bullen (Norway) and she won gold in 2024. She’s also won a World Championship bronze in 2023 after moving up from -59. Iryna Koliadenko (Ukraine) also won bronze in 2023, when she also won the 2023 European Championship. She was a bronze medalist in Tokyo. Purevdorjiin Orkhan (Mongolia) is a former World Champion but that was 2017. Her best result as of late was runner-up in the 2023 Asian Championships. Mun Hong-gyong (North Korea) won the 2023 Asian Games with Esther Kolawole (Nigeria) taking the African Games. Another former world champion in the field is Bilyana Dudova (Bulgaria) who won in 2021, down at -59. In 2023 she came second at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos and made the semi-final in Zagreb. Ameline Douarre (France), Johanna Lindborg (Sweden), Kriszta Incze (Romania), Nesrin Bas (Turkey) and Siwar Bousetta (Tunisia) will also be competing.
Tynybekova is much the likeliest to be a gold medalist despite the strong record of the Japanese. She has a strong head-to-head record over Motoki. In recent years Koliadenko has struggled against those top two but aside from that has beat the majority. Bullen is a consistent type who should be there at the business end. Miracle and Normesch are the other possible contenders.
🥇Aisuluu Tynybekova 🇰🇬
🥈Sakura Motoki 🇯🇵
🥉Grace Bullen 🇳🇴
🥉Kayla Miracle 🇺🇸
Women’s Freestyle -68kg
In this weight class, the last eight medalists are all from different nations. Meerim Zhumanazarova (Kyrgyzstan) will be looking to repeat as a medalist after winning bronze in Tokyo. She was a 2021 world champion and runner-up in the 2022 Asian Championship. Blessing Oborududu (Nigeria) won silver in Tokyo and won bronze in the 2021 World Championship. She lost at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos in 2023 which was won by Zhou Feng (China). She also won Kaba Uulu Kozhomkul & Raatbek Sanatbaev in 2023 and in Zagreb in 2024. Koumba Larroque (France) won in Zagreb in 2023 as well as winning World Championship bronze. As did Irina Ringaci (Moldova), after making the semi-finals in 2022 when she was also European Champion. Tetiana Rizhko (Ukraine) was a European championship silver medallist in 2024. Buse Tosun (Turkey) won that in 2024, to add to her 2023 World Championship. In that final, she beat Enkhsaikhany Delgermaa (Mongolia). Nonaoki Ozaki (Japan) was the Asian Champion in 2024. Nisha Dahiya (India) was runner-up at the 2023 Asian Championship, losing to Ami Ishii. who was a 2022 World Championship semi-finalist. A bronze medal was won by Linda Morais (Canada) who was the silver medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games with Tayla Ford (New Zealand) taking bronze. Amit Elor (United States) is a double world champion at -72 and moving down for the Olympics. Also moving down is Wiktoria Choluj (Poland) who won bronze at the 2024 European Championship. Pak Sol-gum (North Korea) and Soleymi Caraballo (Venezuela) also will be competing.
Elor will be the favourite here given how dominant she is at the weight above. The only question is how her growing frame adapts to a lower weight given her age. Most of the top contenders here have exchanged wins and losses with their other rivals and I think this will come down to the draw. I think it comes down to Feng, Ozaki, Larroque, Ringaci and Tosun. Ringaci is the youngest which has its pros and cons. Larroque also has the advantages associated with being the home competitor. Tosun has a proven big competition resume and has been some of the aforementioned big names. Basically, this division is one of the more open; with even the favourite having some question marks around her that don’t exist elsewhere. Elor and Ozaki are unseeded which makes this even tougher.
🥇Amit Elor 🇺🇸
🥈Buse Tosun 🇹🇷
🥉Koumba Larroque 🇫🇷
🥉Irina Ringaci 🇲🇩
Women’s Freestyle -76kg
Five of the last six world champions are competing in Paris. Adeline Gray (United States) was the silver medalist in Tokyo and is the reigning World Championship bronze medalist. Aiperi Medet Kyzy (Kyrgyzstan) was the Asian Games champion in 2023. She won a World Championship bronze in 2021 before taking silver in 2023. The world champion in 2023 was Yuka Kagami (Japan) after winning bronze in 2022. Samer Amer (Egypt) won bronze in 2021 before taking silver in 2022. Genesis Reasco (Ecuador) was a semi-finalist in 2022 and also won the Pan-American Championship in 2024. Milaimys Marin (Cuba) won in 2023 and also made the World Championship semi-final. Tatiana Renteria (Colombia) was runner-up at both Pan-American Championships and also won bronze at the 2023 World Championship. Justina Di Stasio (Canada) is a former World Championship bronze medalist from 2017 before winning the 2018 World Championship at -72. Reetika Honda (India) also moved up after winning bronze in the 2023 Asian Championship. Yuliana Yankeva (Bulgaria) has won medals at -72 and even the 2023 European Championship at -68. Bernadett Nagy (Hungary) won bronze medals in the 2022 and 2024 European Championship with Catalina Axente (Romania) taking a bronze in 2023.
Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan (Mongolia) is another World Championship medalist who won her 2023 World Championship silver at -72. Wang Juan (China) was consistently competitive in 2023 without winning many tournaments. Hannah Rueben (Nigeria) and Zaineb Sghaier (Tunisia) will also be competing.
It is really hard to assess the level of form of Kagami given she hasn’t competed as often as most of her rivals. Gray and Adar return from Tokyo and both are potentially on the downswing of their careers, it is Adar I lean to out of the two. Kyzy is my favourite but is by no means unbeatable. The other Latin-American contenders are intriguing. Marin and Renteria are the younger pair and along with Reasco, it is hard to work out which is best as they often exchange wins and losses.
🥇Aiperi Medet Kyzy 🇰🇬
🥈Yasemin Adar 🇹🇷
🥉Yuka Kagami 🇯🇵
🥉Milaimys Marin 🇨🇺
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