PARIS (July 26) -- Kyrgyzstan is waiting for its first Olympic champion, in any sport. Two came close to ending that drought in Tokyo when Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ) and Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ) reached the final in Greco-Roman 77kg and women's wrestling 62kg. Both fell short.
Come Paris, Kyrgyzstan is banking on its wrestlers again. Three world champions are heading to Paris as the favorites in their weight classes to win the gold medal. One of them is Tynybekova, the legend who took wrestling to the pinnacle in the country.
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Makhmudov and Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) wrestle before Tynybekova at the Olympics. But if they don't win the gold, Tynybekova will have the chance to win the historic gold and be the first Olympic champion from Kyrgyzstan. It would only be apt.
Kyle DAKE (USA) lost to Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN) at the Tokyo Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)
Apart from Tynybekova, two more Tokyo silver medalists will look to win gold on August 9 when WW 62kg and Freestyle 74kg and 125kg weight classes take place at the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris.
Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN) at 74kg and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) at 125kg won't have it easy. Both fell in the finals at Tokyo, Petriashvili's loss being the more dramatic of the two.
Kadzimahamedau stunned the world when he tossed around Kyle DAKE (USA) in Tokyo and Petriashvili was left stunned when Gable STEVESON (USA) scored a last-second takedown to beat him in the 125kg final.
But to lay claim to gold in Paris, all three weight classes will be full of drama.
FS 74kg: Dake out to avenge Tokyo loss
Kyle DAKE (USA) was the favorite to win the 74kg gold medal in Paris. Then Uzbekistan announced Razambek JHAMALOV (UZB) as its entry, Mahamedkhabib KADZIMAHAMEDAU (AIN) got in after approval and suddenly, there is no clear favorite to win this weight class.
Kadzimahamedau's run in Tokyo saw him beat Dake and reach the final. Dake hasn't faced him after but is looking forward to that bout if it happens in Paris.
"I have been itching to get those matches back," Dake told FloWrestling. "Those are fun matches. You want to go out and compete against the best guys. All I know is there will be 16 guys trying to win an Olympic gold medal and perform at their best. My goal is just being better than them on that day."
Reflecting on his campaign in Tokyo and then in the 2023 World Championships, Dake said he was satisfied and has a different outlook towards results.
"I don't know if I would change anything," Dake said. "Given the circumstances, I competed the best I could. I went out and wrestled and did my best. My girls, last year [after the World Championships], asked me 'daddy you didn't win, what happened?' I tried my best and it didn't fall my way. That's okay. A lot of what I am focusing on is competing with gratitude, scoring points, be Kyle Dake the best way I can."
If the best Dake shows up in Paris, he will be unstoppable. But a few opponents have pushed him to the edge in the past. Frank CHAMIZO (ITA), Yones EMAMI (IRI), Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) and Daichi TAKATANI (JPN) are a few he has wrestled. Georgios KOUGIOUMTSIDIS (GRE), Chermen VALIEV (ALB), Razambek JAMALOV (UZB), Viktor RASSADIN (TJK), Turan BAYRAMOV (AZE) are a few others he has not wrestled and will be in Paris. Thanks to his top seed, Dake will avoid Kougioumtsidis, Salkazanov and Bayramov till the final.
Kadzimahamedau will be unseeded and can be drawn anywhere in the bracket. After Tokyo, his performance has seen him win a European Championships silver medal at 79kg in what was a rare appearance on the mat.
But Kougioumtsidis defeated him at the World Championships in a thrilling opening-round bout. The Greek wrestler was looking good to make the final but hit Dake in the semifinal, dropping the bout 4-1, a much closer semifinal than the scoreline indicates.
Takatani was another wrestler who troubled Dake in the quarterfinals. Though Dake won 6-4, Takatani seemed to have figured out Dake's style and controlled the bout. Dake, however, was just too good.
The entries of Valiev and Jamalov has spiced up things. Valiev was entered in the World Olympic Qualifier after he completed his transfer from Albania. His style of frustrating his opponents by having a sitting position with no aim to score will be on test in Paris.
Jamalov is replacing Bekzod ABDURAKHAMANOV (UZB) in the line-up and the former U23 world champion can upset any wrestler in Paris. Jamalov's defense is among one of the many exceptional skills he possesses and once he thwarts the attacks of his opponents, they crumble due to disappointment.
Making his debut for Uzbekistan, Jamalov won the Budapest Ranking Series and won gold, announcing himself just before the Games and it should not surprise the wrestling world if he goes all the way in Paris.
Wait, maybe Geandry GARZON (CUB) will get his prized Olympic medal in Paris? The 41-year-old finished fifth in the 2008 Beijing Games and returned to the Olympics in Tokyo. Now he is going for his third Olympics in Paris.
WW 62kg: Tynybekova and history
Yukako KAWAI (JPN) denied Tynybekova the gold in Tokyo. A for Tynybekova would have grown her legend in Kyrgyzstan. The fans still love and adore her. They cheer for her in every country she wrestles. All they want is for her to become the country's first Olympic champion. Nonoka OZAKI (JPN) threatened her to disallow that for significant time before she moved categories after losing domestically.
Going into Paris, one thing Tynybekova can take confidence in is her record against Sakura MOTOKI (JPN), the Japan entry for the Olympics. The two met in the World Championships final which Tynybekova survived and won. Then at the Zagreb Open and again at the Asian Championships. Tynybekova used her counter lifts to win both times.
But Tynybekova knows that it's not just the Japanese opponent at the Olympics she has to be prepared for. The 62kg weight has seen the rise of Grace BULLEN (NOR), Hyon Gyong MUN (PRK) and Bilyana DUDOVA (BUL), return of Orkhon PUREVDORJ (MGL). Tokyo bronze medalist Iryna KOLIADENKO (UKR) is also looking for her second Olympic medal.
"I would like to say that there are no easy or tough opponents," Tynybekova said after the Asian Championships. "It all depends on my physical condition on that exact day. That’s why me and my coaches will prepare to wrestle every single wrestler in my weight class."
Motoki may well be at the top of that list. Motoki isn't one with the natural gift of wrestling. She believes in going back to the drawing board after every loss and aiming for perfection through repetitions.
"I don't have confidence and think negatively. That's why I can practice and research. Those are my weapons," she told Yomiuri recently.
Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) will be one of the contender for gold at the Paris Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)
One of her lethal attacks is the single-leg attack, which she has perfected and hits deep. She manages to score using the move most of the time but Tynybekova has little trouble countrering that. Motoki says she has 30 variations to hit it.
"It's like a mathematical formula. If you know it, you can apply it," she said.
Those weapons have worked well against most but Tynybekova. She ran close in Zagreb but at the Asian Championships, Motoki did not come close to beating the Kyrgyz. She went back and worked on it. She cried and pushed herself.
It's like her junior high school all over again. She was not able to get past a wrestler and lost "about seven times." Then she beat her, finally.
"There was a sense of accomplishment and joy that people who keep winning don't get," she said. "No other athlete has ever experienced such setbacks. That's my strength. I want to win the gold medal and get revenge."
Hyon Gyong MUN (PRK) is an Asian Games champion at 62kg. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)
Gyong-Mun will be another wrestler who can surprise a few in Paris. She won the Asian Games after beating Ozaki in the final and with little known about her, wrestlers can find it tricky to face the DPR Korea wrestler.
Bullen will be at her first Olympics having transformed her style after getting a new team and moving to Georgia for training. She won bronze at the World Championships and will be a threat in Paris.
FS 125kg: Zare set to enter new territory
Amir Hossein ZARE (IRI) has grown leaps and bounds after his bronze-medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics. He won the World Championships gold medal in Oslo, beating Taha AKGUL (TUR) and Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO). He suffered a loss to Akgul in 2022 but bounced back to win the gold in 2023. Going into Paris 2024, Zare is undoubtedly a heavy favorite.
Zare has not only grown in experience but has worked on his conditioning to a great extent. At the 2023 World Championships, his opponents found it difficult to score on him and he gave up only six points in five bouts.
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL) during the Asian Olympic Qualifier. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)
Lkhagvagerel MUNKHTUR (MGL), who won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships, wrestled Zare at the Asian Games final in October 2023 but fell behind quickly.
"His conditioning is very high," Munkhtur said after the final. "The strength part is normal but it's his conditioning which keeps him going for six minutes."
Munkhtur had a disastrous World Championships, bowing out in the first round. But he came back to qualify for the Olympics from the Asian qualifiers.
Zare's biggest competitors will be Petriashvili, Akgul and Mason PARRIS (USA) who won the trials in the absence of Tokyo Olympic champion Gable STEVESON (USA).
Petriashvili was close to winning his first Olympic gold after bronze in Rio but in the final second of the final, Steveson scored a takedown to beat Petriashvili. The Georgian has not been able to win a gold at any championships since.
"I was very close to the gold medal," Petriashvili told UWW. "It was one of the hardest matches in my life. Steveson was very fast and strong. Every day I try to forget that moment. I am not saying I have forgotten it. It's very hard to do so.
"I don't know what happened there. Maybe I thought 'I have won, really!' I was talking to myself. My eyes went black because of happiness. I was counting - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 seconds and I lost. What happened? Every day I ask myself what happened and don't have an answer. It's wrestling. It's very hard for your emotions but you have to be quiet and have this feeling."
Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) after losing the 125kg final at the Tokyo Olympics. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)
But Petriashvili will have to forget it and be ready for another spell of matches. He knows that well and is ready for Paris.
"It will be hard and there will be good matches," he said. "I hope I will be ready. For 12 years, I have been standing on the mat at the senior level. I feel good here. Akgul and Zare are world-class wrestlers. Parris is also good. I am a good wrestler as well (laughs). Everyone wants to take a gold medal home. No one gives you the medal."
Akgul won the gold medal in Rio and bronze in Tokyo. But for a third Olympic medal, he will have to work hard. He is on the same side as Zare which makes it difficult to be in the final. Both will not collide before the semifinals.
Mason PARRIS (USA), red, will be the U.S. representative at 125kg in Paris. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)
Parris is on the other side, making him a potential opponent of Petriashvili in the semifinal. The Georgian defeated Parris in the semifinal of the World Championships. Parris, however, won the gold medal at the Budapest Ranking Series.
"Getting a world bronze medal last year was awesome for my confidence," Parris said. "I think I am being underestimated by a lot of people. I think I have one of the best chances to be an Olympic champion. My plan is to bring it home for the U.S."
