In two days, the Olympic Games will start the wrestling competitions, and on Sunday, the draw will take place, during which we will find out the location of all the participants. The Kyrgyz team has already left for Paris after a training camp. One of the strongest wrestlers of his time, two-time world champion and three-time Asian champion Zholaman Sharshenbekov, will compete in the Kyrgyzstan national team in the 60 kg weight category.
This wrestler literally has no equal opponents. Undefeated since 2022 at major tournaments, he is going to the Olympic Games in Paris as the main favorite in his weight category. Zholaman ranks first in the world rankings in his weight category and is a seeded participant in the Olympic Games. According to the rules of the United World Wrestling, the locations of the seeded participants on the tournament grid are already known, who will be able to meet each other only in the 1/4 finals. Unseeded participants will find out their opponents only after the draw.
One of his opponents in the tournament is Japanese wrestler Kenichiro Fumita. They will meet only in the quarterfinals. They have already met in the final of the World Championship, where Zholaman defeated the Japanese with a score of 11:6. Fumita is the current vice-champion of the Olympic Games, and he should not be underestimated. However, given the level of the Kyrgyz wrestler, it is safe to say that Fumita is unlikely to be able to stop him. In the semifinals, Zholaman will meet three-time Iranian wrestler Nejad Mehedi. They have already crossed paths in the final of the 2022 Asian Championship, where Zholaman won with a score of 4:0.
For Zholaman, these are the second Olympic Games. At the Tokyo Olympics, he lost to Moldovan athlete Victor Cioban. However, much has changed since then, and Victor has lost his previous positions. Now he is unlikely to be able to defeat Zholaman. Their meeting is possible only in the final.
Zholaman Sharshenbekov's latest results:
2022 Asian Championships - gold medal
2022 World Championships - gold medal
2023 Asian Championships - gold medal
2023 World Championships - gold medal
2023 Asian Games - gold medal
2024 Asian Championships - gold medal
