one of wrestling’s greatest rivalries will be reignited in Tokyo. Greco-top Roman’s two seeds in 97 kilogrammes are Russia’s Musa EVLOEV and Armenia’s Artur ALEKSANYAN.
Between them, they’ve won every single global and Olympic title in this weight class since 2014.
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Greco-Roman 97kg Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
Number two seed Aleksanyan will be competing for his third Olympic medal and second straight Olympic gold. From 2014 through 2017, the outstanding Armenian wrestler swept the world and Olympic titles.
When Evloev defeated Aleksanyan in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Championships in Budapest, the tide flipped. In 2019, Evloev successfully defended his title as world champion by defeating Aleksanyan.
In March, Evloev won the Matteo Pellicone Tournament, which was part of the Rankings Series. For the Series, it was his third gold medal. Evloev won two of his three matches thanks to technical dominance and lost none during the competition in Ostia, Italy.
The following month, Evloev won his second European title by blanking Balasz KISS (HUN) 8-0 in the gold medal match and outscoring his opponents, 28-1, in total. The 28-year-old Evloev is the presumptive favourite to win gold at 97kg at the Tokyo Olympics.
Evloev earned his first Olympic medal by defeating the 2016 gold medallist from Armenia, Artur Aleksanyan, 5-1 in the men’s Greco-Roman 97 kilogramme category.
Tadeusz Michalik of Poland and Mohammadhadi Saravi of Iran Won Bronze.
U.S. wrestler Tamyra Mariama Stock Mensah won the gold medal in the women’s 68 kilogramme (kg) freestyle division by defeating Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu, 4-1.
“When I initially got into wrestling, I set out to be a role model for other young ladies, illuminating the fact that you can be both goofy and tough, fun and tough, all at the same time. It’s one of the things that pushed me over the edge “- Mensah.
Alla Cherkasova of the Ukraine won bronze by defeating Sara Dosho of Japan, who had previously won the women’s freestyle 69kg in Rio 2016. Meerim Zhumanazarova of Kyrgyzstan also won bronze. Enditem
Snyder won the first match of the “Snyderlaev” series, which garnered international attention, in the final of the 2017 World Championships in Paris. This was Sadulaev’s first World Championships after moving up to 97kg. In Rio, Sadulaev had won the 86-kilogram weight class, and Snyder had won the 97-kilogram weight class.
Last Words
Sadulaev defeated “Snyderlaev II” in the World Championships the following year in Budapest and exacted his vengeance. Since that setback in Paris, he hasn’t experienced defeat on the mats.
Snyder would love to see a “Snyderlaev IV” at this year’s World Championships in Oslo in October, but it’s unclear what Sadulaev has planned at the time. What matters is that he plans to show up.
He said, “If the Lord wills it, I will be at the global championships.”
