The Paris Olympic Games have been underway for a few days now, and there is less and less time left before the start of the freestyle wrestling competitions. We have already published two articles about wrestlers who, in our opinion, will be able to successfully perform at the Olympics.
This is our third article about wrestlers who will not let us down and will show excellent results at the Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling.
Vazgen Tevanyan (Armenia, 65 kg)
The 24-year-old Armenian athlete is in excellent shape and is one of the main favorites for an Olympic medal. For many years, he has been considered the best wrestler in his country in his weight category, which allowed him to unconditionally get into the Armenian Olympic team. He won a license to participate in the Olympics by winning a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships in Belgrade. Before that, he became the European Champion and the U-23 World Champion.
Vazgen is distinguished by his physical strength, which he demonstrates in almost all tournaments. He is especially strong on the ground.
This year, he won the "Zagreb Open 2024" tournament and won a silver medal at the "Pole Emre and Varga Janos 2024" tournament in Hungary. He did not enter the final, giving the victory to his teammate, Arman Andreasyan.
Vazgen shows his strong character at every tournament, and this will be one of his trump cards in Paris. He is a clear favorite for the Olympic Games and is capable of showing high results.
Vazgen is among the seeded wrestlers in his weight category. Among the strong opponents in his bracket, we can highlight Mongolian Tumur Ochir Tulga, whom Vazgen will meet in the quarterfinals of the Olympic Games. This will be their second meeting. The first time, the Mongolian won a tough fight at the 2021 World Championships, but many of the refereeing decisions in that fight were questionable. This time, the judges' mistakes should not be repeated, and Vazgen must show high results.
Vazgen Tevanyan's latest results:
2022 U-23 World Championship - gold medalist
2023 European Championship - gold medalist
2023 World Championship - bronze medalist
2024 Zagreb Open International Tournament - gold medalist
2024 Pole Emre and Varga Janos International Tournament - silver medalist
Islam Dudayev (Albania, 65kg)
The Chechen wrestler, who competes for Albania, is one of the favorites for a medal at the Paris Olympic Games. Islam Dudayev has significantly improved his form in recent years and approached the tournament in excellent physical condition. This year, he has already won the European Champion title in his weight category, defeating Russian athlete Gadzhimurad Rashidov in the final.
Islam earned a license for the Olympics at the world licensing tournament in Istanbul. At this tournament, he demonstrated his best qualities on the mat, defeating several promising wrestlers, such as Yakut wrestler Nurgun Skryabin, representing Belarus, Kazakh wrestler Adlan Askarov and Armenian wrestler Erik Arushanyan, representing Ukraine. These athletes could also become favorites for the Olympic Games in Paris, but the Chechen wrestler managed to stand out and for the first time in his career will go to the main tournament of the quadrennial.
Islam does not always attract attention with the flashiness of his wrestling, but he is distinguished by his cold-bloodedness and careful analysis of his every move. In the final fight of the European Championship, he demonstrated that even the current Olympic medalist could not beat him. Rashidov was able to earn a point only through passive attacks, and in other cases his attacks encountered a reliable defense of the Chechen wall. In the end, Islam won with a score of 2:1, as planned. He intends to use the same tactics at the Olympics, and it can bring success, if only his breath does not fail him.
Islam Dudayev is not included in the list of seeded wrestlers in his weight category, and his potential opponents will be known after the draw of the tournament grid.
Islam Dudayev's latest results:
2022 European Championships - bronze medal
2024 European Championships - gold medal