Wrestling is a hand-to-hand martial art in which both opponents try to knock each other down, having won. Its different types are what characterize the Olympics from the very year of its foundation, which is considered to be 708 BC. Wrestling was in the program of all games, except for those that took place in 1900. In each of its forms, there are permitted and prohibited techniques. As soon as one of the opponents gains obvious control over the other, the match is considered over. Wrestling differs from martial arts such as boxing in that opponents practically do not strike each other.

Wrestling game participants

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will definitely include Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling. In the first form, only men compete, in the second - men and women. In this sport there will be participants from various countries, in total there will be 244 athletes.

AT Greco-Roman wrestling men have 6 weight categories, in freestyle for men and women - also 6 each. It turns out that in total 18 sets of medals will be played.

Greco-Roman wrestling, weight categories for men:

• up to 59 kg;
• up to 66 kg;
• up to 75 kg;
• up to 85 kg;
• up to 98 kg;
• up to 130 kg.

freestyle struggle, weight categories for men:

• up to 57 kg;
• up to 65 kg;
• up to 74 kg;
• up to 86 kg;
• up to 97 kg;
• up to 125 kg.

Freestyle wrestling, weight categories for women:

• up to 48 kg;
• up to 53 kg;
• up to 58 kg;
• up to 63 kg;
• up to 69 kg;
• up to 75 kg.

The selection of athletes has been carried out since 2015. Under the term qualifying tournament falls several competitions held in different parts of the world:

World Wrestling Championship 2015;

• Olympic qualification - America;
• Olympic qualification - Asia;
• Olympic qualification - Africa and Oceania;
• Olympic qualification - Europe;
• 1st World Qualifying Tournament;
• 2nd World Qualifying Tournament.

In early spring 2016, it was decided that during the draw for the Summer Olympics, all the finalists of the last World Championship would be in different halves of the schedule grid so that they could not face each other before the final. After all, this sport, it must be intriguing.

Wrestling competition calendar

The list of games that will take place in the summer in Brazil includes both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. All sports matches will take place from 14 to 21 August.

Each day of the Summer Olympic Games in the wrestling program is dedicated to several categories of athletes. All stages are held in one day: qualification of the competition, 1/8 finals, semi-finals, quarter-finals, finals of the competitions, repechage fights.

• August 14: Greco-Roman, men. Categories: 59 and 75.
• August 15: Greco-Roman, men. Categories: 85, 130.
• August 16: Greco-Roman, men. Categories: 66, 98.
• August 17: freestyle, women. Categories: 48, 58, 69.
• August 18: freestyle, women. Categories: 53, 63, 75.
• August 19: freestyle, men. Categories: 57, 74.
• August 20: freestyle, men. Categories: 86, 125.
• August 21: freestyle, men. Categories: 65, 97.

There are other types of wrestling that are not included in the program of the Olympic Games.

344 athletes compete for 18 sets of medals: 6 for men and women in freestyle wrestling and 6 more in men's Greco-Roman wrestling.

The Greco-Roman wrestling tournament has become historic for Armenia. The first gold in Rio for this country was brought by the Greco-Roman wrestler Artur Aleksanyan - in the final of the fight in the category up to 98 kg, he defeated the Cuban Yasmani Lugo Cabrera with a score of 3:0.

Representatives of Armenia conquered Olympic gold exactly 20 years ago at the Atlanta Olympics. Then the classic wrestler Armen Nazaryan also became the champion.

The Russian team was represented in all weight categories, and the wrestlers brought the country 3 medals - 2 gold and bronze. Greco-Roman style wrestler in weight up to 75 kg Roman Vlasov brought the first gold medal to the team of Russian wrestlers and is now a two-time Olympic champion.

Kyrgyzstan was represented at the tournament by 4 Greco-Roman wrestlers. Zhanarbek Kenzheev and Murat Ramonov lost in the first fight.

Ruslan Tsarev, speaking in weight category up to 66 kg, in the 1/8 finals he was defeated by an Algerian with a score of 6:0.

Arsen Eraliev competed in the weight category up to 59 kg. In the 1/8 finals, the Kyrgyzstani lost to an athlete from Cuba, Ismael Borrero Molina, who later became the Olympic champion.

In the fight for 3rd place, Eraliev met with a wrestler from Uzbekistan Elmurat Tasmuradov and lost to him. As a result, the Kyrgyzstani took the final 5th place.

List of winners of the tournament

August 14 on Olympic Games wrestling tournament starts in Rio de Janeiro. The Russian national team will be represented in all 17 weight categories in which licenses have been won. This is the highest score among all teams.

GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING

Up to 59 kg. Ibragim Labazanov - two-time champion Russia (2015, 2016). Regions - St. Petersburg and Rostov region

Up to 66 kg. Islam-bek Albiev - Olympic champion(2008), world champion (2009), two-time European champion (2009, 2016), silver medalist of the World Championship (2013), bronze medalist of the European Championship (2012). Regions - Moscow and Chechen Republic.

Up to 75 kg. Roman Vlasov - Olympic champion (2012), two-time world champion (2011, 2015), silver medalist of the World Championship (2013), two-time European champion (2012, 2013), bronze medalist of the European Championship (2011). Region - Novosibirsk.

Up to 85 kg. Davit Chakvetadze - winner of the European Games (2015), two-time champion of Russia (2015, 2016). Region - Moscow and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Up to 98 kg. Islam Magomedov - winner of the European Games (2015), bronze medalist of the World Championship (2015), two-time champion of Russia (2015, 2016). Regions - the Rostov region and the Chechen Republic.

Up to 130 kg. Sergey Semenov - two-time silver medalist of the World Cups (2015, 2016), champion of Russia (2016). Regions - Moscow and Krasnodar Territory.

FREESTYLE WRESTLING

Up to 57 kg. Viktor Lebedev is a two-time world champion (2010, 2011), bronze medalist of the 2015 World Championship, winner of the 2015 European Games. Regions - Sakha-Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Up to 65 kg. Soslan Ramonov - 2014 World Champion, 2015 World Championship bronze medalist. Regions - Moscow region, North Ossetia-Alania. Club - CSKA.

Up to 74 kg. Aniuar Geduev - three-time European champion (2013, 2014, 2015), bronze medalist of the 2015 World Championship. Regions - Krasnodar Territory and Kabardino-Balkaria. Club - CSKA

Up to 86 kg. Abdulrashid Sadulayev - two-time world and European champion (2014, 2015). Regions - Moscow, Dagestan.

Up to 97 kg. Anzor Boltukaev - 2016 European Champion, 2013 World Championship bronze medalist. Regions - Chechen Republic, Moscow.

Up to 125 kg. Bilyal Makhov is a three-time world champion (2007, 2009, 2010), bronze medalist of the 2012 Olympics, bronze medalist of the 2015 World Championship in freestyle wrestling. In addition, in the Greco-Roman style, he became the bronze medalist of the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. Represents Dagestan and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Club - CSKA

WOMEN'S WRESTLING

Up to 48 kg. Milana Dadasheva - 2015 European Junior Champion. Regions - Dagestan.

Up to 58 kg. Valeria Koblova - European champion 2014, silver world championship - 2014. Region - Moscow region and St. Petersburg

Up to 63 kg. Inna Trazhukova - two-time bronze medalist of the European Championships (2011, 2016). Region - Moscow and Ulyanovsk region.

Up to 69 kg. Natalya Vorobyeva - Olympic champion 2012, world champion 2015, two-time European champion (2013, 2014). Region - St. Petersburg and Moscow region

Up to 75 kg. Ekaterina Bukina - silver medalist of the 2011 World Championship, silver medalist of the 2015 European Games. Region - Moscow and Irkutsk region.

2. Mark Madsen (Denmark)

3. Said Abdvali (Iran) and Kim Hyun Woo (South Korea).

Olympic Games - 2016. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Greco-Roman wrestling. Men. Up to 59 kg

1. Ismael Borrero (Cuba)

2. Shinobu Ota (Japan)

3. Elmurat Tasmuradov (Uzbekistan) and Stig-Andre Berge (Norway)…

16. Ibragim Labazanov (Russia).

I do not presume to say whether the judges were right, but they had reasons not to give 4 points. During the throw, Vlasov managed to spin in the air, and he landed on his thigh. In any case, the decision is borderline, and one can argue for a long time about its correctness.

The quarter-final was a cakewalk for Vlasov. Chinese Yana Bina he took it apart in a couple of minutes. The Russians achieved overwhelming advantages in the first period. With the score 8:0 the fight was stopped. And it made me happy. It was clear that Vlasov did not have much gasoline in stock. The only unpleasant moment of the fight: Yang Bin inflicted a cut on Vlasov, which bothered him until the end of the final fight.

Quite unexpectedly, a Croatian became Vlasov's rival in the semifinals Bozho Starcevic, whose main achievement was the bronze of the European Championship in 2013. But he managed to cope with the American Andrew Bysekom which was seriously surprising. It seemed that for Vlasov this was a passing option, but this fight turned out to be dramatic. At the start, Roman, as usual, received a serious advantage, having perfectly worked out the situation when the opponent was transferred to the ground. True, he led 4-0, but was one step away from winning ahead of schedule. And the judges pressed two points. Toward the end of the period, Vlasov managed to transfer his opponent from the rack to the carpet, he earned 2 more points - 6:0. But, carried away by the attack, the Russian did not notice how the Croat made a grip over his head. Starcevic's action was so powerful that Roman was simply knocked out, for a moment he lost consciousness. Vlasov was saved from defeat only by the fact that the time of the first period had ended. The Croats took the "challenge", they demanded to count the "touch", but the judges gave only two points. By and large, Vlasov was very lucky. On the other hand, even earlier he should have been awarded an early victory ...

During the pause, Roman managed to recover and spent the second period very competently and accurately. Bozho managed to win back one point due to his activity, but that was the end of it. Croat failed to attack properly from the stalls.

And in the final, a well-known Dane was waiting for Vlasov Mark Madsen. A year ago, many thought that he was lucky with the net, and all the strongest were mowed down by Roman. Now Madsen's net was not fabulous. For example, in the semifinals he defeated the most experienced Hungarian Peter Baci, who two years ago became the world champion in the category up to 80 kg. Madsen also passed the ex-world champion in weight up to 66 kg Iranian Saida Abdvali. But still, Vlasov was considered the undisputed favorite of the final. And he actually confirmed it.

Quite quickly, Vlasov managed, due to his activity, to convince the referee that it was time to transfer Madsen to the ground. And there he figured out like a champion. Actually, he performed the same trick that he succeeded more than once at the World Championships last year: he lifted his opponent and threw him 4 points from the standing position. Nothing more interesting happened in the first period. But with the beginning of the second three-minute Madsen rushed to the attack. Like a bull, he pushed Vlasov, acted as harshly as possible, and soon he was given a chance to attack from the stalls. But the implementation of the moment let us down, Roman managed to get out, and the hold was broken. The Danes decided to challenge the episode, believing that Vlasov himself broke the grip, but thereby added 1 point to the Russian. At the last minute, Madsen's crazy zeal again forced the referee to send Roman to the ground, but here he showed a phenomenal ability to get out of unpleasant stories. Our athlete moved very well, changed direction, which disoriented the opponent. Madsen's grip slipped to his hips, and that was it. 5:1 in favor of Vlasov, and he repeats the success of four years ago.

Only the Siberian character allowed him to rise again to the highest step of the podium. And when, with his eyes closed, Vlasov sang the Russian anthem, everyone who followed him at those moments understood how much effort the current campaign for the gold of Rio cost him.

In the weight category up to 59 kg Russian Ibragim Labazanov, who only the day before found out that he was allowed to fight at the Games, was defeated in the first fight with a Kazakhstani Almat Kebispaev. Well, the victory was celebrated by the Cuban Ismael Borrero, who did everything he wanted with his rivals.