58 kg and 69 kg W - AUGUST 17 Olympic champs Icho, Vorobieva stars to watch
Wednesday, August 17 is the first day of women’s freestyle at the Rio Olympics, with 48 kg, 58 kg and 69 kg on tab. The United States qualified Haley Augello to compete at 48 kg, but does not have entries at the other two weights that day.
WOMEN’S FREESTYLE 58 KG One of the greatest wrestlers in history, three-time Olympic champion and 10-time World champion Kaori Icho of Japan, seeks a record fourth-Olympic gold. She won most of her golds at 63 kg, but when they changed to six Olympic weights for women, she came down and won the last two World titles at 58 kg. Icho and Yoshida are both superstars
in Japan, and will be the center of atten- tion as they attempt to become the first four-time Olympic wrestling champions, regardless of gender.
It is very rare when Icho loses a match, but she was beaten in the finals of 2016 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia by Orkhon Purevdorj of Mongolia, who quali- fied for Rio by taking silver at the Asian Olympic Qualifier. Purevdorj’s best achievements were a silver at the 2014 World Military Championships and a 2013 Junior World bronze medal. Azerbaijan’s Yuliya Ratkevich was a 2009 World champion at 59 kg and has won a 2012 Olympic bronze medal . In this Olympic cycle, Ratkevich won a World silver in 2014 at 60 kg, and World bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. She also boasts a 2013 World University Games gold medal. A 2015 World champion at 60 kg, Oksana Herhel of Ukraine was added back to the field after initially being banned for testing for meldonium, but reinstated after the IOC interpretation. Winning a silver medal at the 2015
World Championships at 58 kg behind Icho was Petra Olli of Finland. She was close to a medal in 2014, with a fifth place finish at Worlds. Olli also won two Junior World bronze medals, a Cadet World bronze medal and a Youth Olympic Games bronze medal. Two-time World medalist Valeria Koblova of Russia lost to Icho in the 2014 World Championships finals to take a sil- ver medal, and also won a 2013 World bronze medal. She was fifth in the 2012 Olympic Games. Koblova added a 2013 World University Games title and has two Junior World medals.
Colombia’s Jackeline Renteria has won two Olympic bronze medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics at 55 kg. Renteria has not won a World medal, but was fifth in the 2013 and 2015 Worlds. Elif Yesilirmak of Turkey won World bronze medals in 2014 and 2015. She competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. Malin Johanna Mattsson of Sweden was a 2010 World bronze medalist and has placed fifth in the last two World Championships. She boasts 2009 and 2014 European titles. Marwa Amri of Tunisia has won eight African Championships. She qualified for Rio by winning the Africa/Oceania Olympic Qualifier. She competed at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. Michelle Fazzari of Canada won the
Pan American Olympic Qualifier. The Asian Olympic Qualifier champion was Aisuluu Tynbekova of Kyrgyzstan, who also won the Asian Championships in 2016. Mimi Hristova of Bulgaria won the European Olympic Qualifier, her best achievement to date. Host Brazil’s Joice Souza Da Silva won both the Pan American Games and the Pan American Championships in 2015. Mariana Cherdivara-Esanu of Moldova won silver medals at the 2012 World University Championships and the 2011 Junior World Championships.
Others in the field include Sakshi Malik of India, Lisette Antes Castillo of Ecuador, Luisa Niemesch of Germany, Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria and Janet Sovero Nino of Peru.
WOMEN’S FREESTYLE 69 KG Natalia Vorobieva of Russia, the 2012 Olympic champion at 72 kg, is now the top star at 69 kg, after making the switch in 2014, when United World Wrestling changed the weight class structure. She won the 2015 World Championships gold medal and was third in 2014. Vorobieva boasts three World medals and three Junior World golds.
This weight is loaded with past gold and silver medalists, all proven athletes capable of winning Olympic gold. 2014 World champion Aline Focken of Germany was also third in the 2015 World Championships and fifth in the 2013 World Championships. 2013 World champion Alina Makhinya of Ukraine was one of the last to qualify for Rio, winning the 2nd World Olympic
Qualifier in Turkey. Although her gold in 2013 is her only World medal, she was fifth in the 2011 and 2012 World meets. She won two Junior World titles and a Junior World bronze. Jenny Fransson won a World title in 2012 up at 72 kg, but like Vorobieva, dropped in weight in 2014 when the weight classes shifted. She has reached the medal round in the 2010, 2014 and 2015 Worlds, losing bronze bouts to place fifth. This will be her third Olympic Games. China’s Feng Zhou was the World sil- ver medalist behind Vorobieva in 2015, her only World medal. She won a Junior World title in 2012. She also won the 2016 Olympic Test Event in Brazil, which included a number of the top competitors in Rio. UWW has her ranked No. 1 going into the Rio Games. Japan’s Sara Dosho has won medals at the last three World Championships, a silver in 2014 and bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. She also won a 2014 Asian gold medal as well as titles at the 2013 World University Games and the 2011 Junior World Championships. Canada’s Dorothy Yeats was a World silver medalist in 2012 and won the 2016 Pan American Olympic Qualifier to punch her ticket to Rio. Her major wins include the 2015 Pan American Games title, the 2014 Commonwealth Games title, and a pair of Junior World gold medals in 2012 and 2013.
Nasanburmaa Ochirbat of Mongolia has won three World bronze medals, in 2008, 2011 and 2013. She was fifth in the 2015 World Championships as well. 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Agnieszka Wieszczek-Kordus of Poland won the European Olympic Qualifier Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan won the Asian Olympic Qualifier to qualify for Rio. Ilana Kratysh of Israel won the 1st
World Olympic Qualifier in Mongolia to qualify for Rio. She won silver medals at the 2013, 2014 and 2016 European Championships, plus a silver medal in the inaugural 2015 European Games. Hannah Rueben of Nigeria won the Africa-Oceania Olympic Qualifier, and was second in the 2016 All-Africa Games. Among the other qualifiers are Buse
Tosun of Turkey, Maria Acosta of Venezuela and Wen-Ling Chen of Chinese Taipei. Tosun was recently a 2016 European U23 champion.
19 USA Wrestling Rio Media Guide
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