UWW

The youngest wrestler on the Russian freestyle team made sure the nation qualifies in all six weight categories after he won the World Olympic Qualifiers in Sofia, Bulgaria at 125kg. After Russia missed out at the World Championships and European Qualifiers, Kozyrev won the gold medal in Sofia and later was named for the Olympics based on his performance at the Russian Championships where he won gold and European Championships in Warsaw, Poland. He finished second in Warsaw after losing the final to Taha AKGUL of Turkey. Hailing from North Ossetia, he will make his debut at the Games for Russia. This will be his second time at an event known as Olympics as he had won a gold medal at the 110kg weight class at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018. He defeated Amir ZARE of Iran who also qualified for the Tokyo Games and a potential rematch is on the cards. Kozyrev has won the cadet European title and is yet to compete at the junior level internationally.