Takedown Report

Olympics – 2021 {3}

TDR Editor’s Notes ; The long delayed 2020 Olympics came to a successful close in Tokyo, Japan. The USA wrestling team did well overall. The competition needs to be expanded to 10 weight classes in each style and we hope to see this by the next Olympics in 2024. Wrestling is growing and it is a worthwhile activity to be encouraged in our schools with our youth. Keep wrestling going onward and upward.
E-mail us at the Editor’s office at martinkfleming@gmail.com Blog # 2957 (8/10/21)
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1 } – Wrestling Launches Comprehensive Media Guide, Website Dedicated to Tokyo 2020
CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 27) — United World Wrestling, the international federation for the sport of wrestling, this week launched its media guide and website for Tokyo 2020, complete with biographies, photos, and videos of each competitor in an easy-to-navigate format.
TOKYO 2020 Page: https://uww.org/event/tokyo-2020
The site includes biographies for all 289 Olympians entered into the wrestling competition along with their headshots, action photos, and behind-the-scenes moments. Journalists and fans seeking to know more about the athletes will have everything they need in one easy-to-find location, including the top seeds, brackets, and emerging storylines. All photos can be used by the athletes, national federations, and media (with proper credit). … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/wrestling-launches-comprehensive-media-guide-website-dedicated-tokyo-2020?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

2 } – Dan Gable On Olympic Gold, Making History, Forging the Future and TEAM USA in Tokyo!
Wrestling legend, Gold Medalist and Championship Coach, Dan Gable joins Dane Neal “On The Road”. Hear as Dan shares his Olympic moments and the impact on his career and the sport. Dan fills us in on this year’s team competing in Tokyo and the challenges of the pandemic as well as internationally on the world stage. Dan talks about the current state of Wrestling, popularity in more places and new ways women are making their mark. 
Listen as Dan Gable tells us the story behind being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and how he took his family to the White House to be a part of it all. … rest of story at https://wgnradio.com/wgn-plus/dane-neal/dan-gable-on-olympic-gold-making-history-forging-the-future-and-team-usa-in-tokyo/?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

3 } – Women’s Freestyle Olympic Preview
Derek Levendusky takes an in-depth, weight-by-weight look at the top teams and medal contenders in Tokyo
The United States is sending arguably the strongest team the country has ever sent to the Olympics — battle-hardened, experienced, and with the confidence of knowing they can win medals at the international level. 

Although there is no official team award given at the Olympics, Japan is the heavy favorite in the team race, a headline on repeat in World competitions over the last 30 years.  At the last World Championships in 2019, the final standings looked like this: 1. Japan, 2. Russia, 3. United States, 4. China, 5. Ukraine. 

Japan won by a wide margin with 138 points to second-place Russia’s 108. The United States earned 105 points for the third-place finish. Even so, the U.S. women showed a lot of grit and promise in 2019 at the World level, winning three gold medals for the first time at the World Championships. It also must be noted that the event in 2019 featured the 10 United World Wrestling weights featured in non-Olympic years. During Olympic years, the field shrinks to six weight classes. … rest of story at https://www.flowrestling.org/articles/7124947-womens-freestyle-olympic-preview?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

4 } – USA’s Gray seeks Olympic gold to go with her 5 world titles
CHIBA, Japan (AP) — American wrestler Adeline Gray has done everything except win an Olympic gold medal during her outstanding career. The five-time world champion is one of the most dominant competitors ever in women’s freestyle wrestling. But misfortune struck at the 2016 Games when she lost to Vasilisa Marzaliuk of Belarus in the quarterfinals. She finished a disappointing seventh in the 75-kilogram class while fighting through neck, shoulder and back injuries that required surgery and kept her out of action for a year.

Since healing up, she has won two more world titles. Now, she’s focused on finally getting an Olympic gold. She heads into the Tokyo Games as the No. 1 seed at 76kg. Action in her class will take place on Sunday and Monday. At 30, she knows time is ticking as she tries to add the crowning achievement to her career. “I definitely think legacy is important,” she said. … rest of story at https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-canada-olympic-team-belarus-olympic-team-russia-olympic-team-0f12c669c24dbdb1d6693412e1b3fed2?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

5 } – The Unbalanced Bracket
The unbalanced bracket. Just reading that phrase raises blood pressures, starts rants, and makes folkstyle purists wear a smug smile. Ever since United World Wrestling (UWW) went to it for World Championship and Olympic competition, starting in 2005, questions have been asked and debates have raged. Today we’ll take on one of those questions to see if it holds up to scrutiny. Does the unbalanced bracket often produce bottom-side bronze medalists that are stronger than their top-side counterparts?

One aspect of the unbalanced bracket that some have highlighted as a potential benefit is that it would seem to make a fluke bronze medalist more likely, expanding the number of countries that have a chance to medal, which could benefit struggling or emerging programs. Whether you see this as a good thing or not might depend on your role in the sport. A fan of pure competition might already think the double-bronze is a handout. Those who support a wrestler stuck on the bottom of the bracket with the three best in the weight might rage at a top side with half as many competitors. Wrestling leaders from a country that snagged an unexpected bronze and have seen their funding rise since might sing the praises of the system. Regardless of where you fall, it seems obvious that the unbalanced bracket has the potential to skew competitions. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24808?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

6 } – Tokyo Watch – 50 Profiles in 50 Days: Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Russia)
As of today, we under 50 days from the start of wrestling at the Olympic Games. Over the next 50 days, we’ll bring you one profile per day of a decorated international contender. Make sure you get to know the wrestlers that Team USA will compete against in Tokyo.
7/27/21 – Sharif Sharifov (Azerbaijan)
7/20/21 – Zaurbek Sidakov (Russia) … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24813?mc_cid=eccbde8e25&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

7 } – Mijain Lopez: The Cuban kid chasing wrestling history aged 39 in Olympics
The last 40 years of Greco-Roman wrestling can be divided between the Mijain Lopez era and the Aleksandr Karelin era. The two giants are forever inked into wrestling history. But at the Olympics in Tokyo, Mijain Lopez, who has always labored in Karelin’s shadow, will have a chance to carve his own identity.
Karelin of the USSR and Russia enjoyed a seemingly untouchable reign as the king of Greco-Roman wrestling’s heavyweight division. From 1988 to 1999, he won nine straight World Championships and three straight Olympics. Known as “The Experiment”, the Russian giant was seemingly hewn from stone. At 6ft 2inch, the 128 kgs of solid muscle was a legend. He was the most fearsome wrestler to ever walk on the mat. Mijain Lopez, though a wrestling great in his own right with five world titles and three Olympic gold medals, has always been second to Karelin. … rest of story at https://www.sportskeeda.com/wrestling/mijain-lopez-the-cuban-kid-chasing-wrestling-history-aged-39-olympics?mc_cid=eccbde8e25&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

8 } – TOKYO BLOG (AUGUST 8): HISTORIC USA WRESTLING PERFORMANCE AT TOKYO GAMES IS SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF
Hey, U.S. wrestling community… I hope you are feeling as good about our Olympic wrestling team back home as we are feeling about the team over here in Japan. We have a lot to be proud of, each and every American who is involved in the sport of wrestling. Our Olympic athletes came to Tokyo and had a record performance. Every time they stepped on the mat, they poured their heart and soul into their match. Although we didn’t always get the outcome we wanted, these athletes performed well under extreme pressure and were outstanding when the whistle blew and it was game time. Nine Medals. Three Gold Medals. Five men’s freestyle Medals won by just five athletes. Four women’s freestyle Medals, doubling the best previous Olympic performance by our women. Spectacular. This is our best Olympic performance. It is hard to compare this with the 1984 Olympic Team, which captured 13 medals out of 20 weight classes including nine golds. That Olympics featured a Soviet bloc boycott. I will always contend that all of those 1984 medals are worth the same as any other Olympic medals. The U.S. team in Los Angeles were historic trailblazers, also. So is our 2001 Olympic team. … rest of story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2021/July/27/Tokyo-Blog-Heading-off-the-Tokyo?mc_cid=56e3c2ba9d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

9} – Willie’s Olympic-Themed Mailbag: July 30th, 2021
We’re on the eve of the (delayed) Olympics and man, it feels good to have wrestling back. The Cadet World Championships were the first “Worlds” of any kind in wrestling since the Senior competition in Nur-Sultan.

But I have a warning. Just like I have a warning before every Senior Worlds or Olympics… Hope for the best, but brace yourself for some measure of disappointment. We spend almost all of our wrestling-watching on our own Americans. We’ve seen David Taylor be a prodigy since youth. We’ve watched Kyle Dake win 4 NCAA titles and Tamyra Mensah-Stock go from up-and-coming talent to World Champ. In that way, our familiarity, and allegiances, and bias all converge to the greatest of expectations. But, I promise you, someone’s gonna break your heart.

Wrestling is a world sport. The United States is good. Not dominant, but good. And this is the oddest of circumstances. With so many delays and cancellations, there’s really much less data than ever. We don’t know how good Nurislam Sanayev is wrestling right now. We don’t know where Haji Aliev, or Artur Aleksanyan or Risako Kawai are in their training. It all leads to so much uncertainty. No one wants the USA to crush the competition more than I do. … rest of story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/24818?mc_cid=a5a452089c&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

10 } – The college careers of the 2020 US Olympic wrestlers
The 2020 U.S. Olympic wrestling team is one of the most star-studded groups to ever represent the country on the international stage. The lineup includes Olympic champions, world champions, NCAA champions, WCWA champions and future stars. Here’s what these individuals accomplished at the collegiate level and how those experiences shaped them into the Olympians they are now. … rest of story at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2021-05-10/college-careers-2020-us-olympic-wrestlers?mc_cid=812142449d&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

11 } – WCL Announces Hosting of 2021 U23 & Senior World Team Trials
OTTAWA – Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is pleased to announce the hosting of the 2021 U23 & Senior World Team Trials, to select athletes for the 2021 U23 and Senior World Championships, in partnership with Saskatoon Sports Tourism and the Saskatoon Wrestling Club on September 4-5, 2021. While various locations across Canada have begun to relax some restrictions, the pandemic is not over and WCL has determined that in order to protect all the Participants, this Event will operate under a “bubble” format, … rest of story at https://wrestling.ca/wcl-announces-hosting-of-2021-u23-senior-world-team-trials/?mc_cid=42d5eec6a4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

12 } – USA Claims Eight Gold Medals for Team Title on Last Day of #WrestleGuatemala
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – USA won the men’s freestyle team title on Sunday night, sweeping the gold medals at the 2021 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Olympic champion and two-time World champion Kyle SNYDER (USA) dominated the 97kg weight class to earn his sixth Pan-American gold medal. In the final, he wrestled 2017 Pan Am silver medalist and three-time bronze medalist Luis PEREZ SOSA (DOM), who he defeated with an 11-0 win to secure the Golden Boot as the Outstanding Wrestler. At 86kg, David TAYLOR (USA) collected his fourth Pan Am gold. Taking on Clayton PYE (CAN), Taylor put together a 10-0 win in 24 seconds. He also owns golds from the 2018 and 2019 Pan Am Championships as well as a gold from the 2020 Pan Am Olympic Qualifier. Six Americans won gold medals in their first Senior Pan American event. … rest of story at https://uww.org/article/usa-claims-eight-gold-medals-team-title-last-day-wrestleguatemala?mc_cid=22b0f00134&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

August 10, 2021 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment