2008 Olympic Games preview at 84 kg/185 lbs. in Greco-Roman wrestling
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by Gary Abbott
The reigning World champion is also the reigning Olympic champion at this weight class, Alexei Mishin of Russia. Mishin has also added a 2006 World bronze medal and a 2005 World silver medal to his collection, also making him one of the most consistent performers in the world in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Winning the silver medal at the World Championships in 2007 was veteran Brad Vering of the United States. It was the first World medal for Vering, who competed in the 2004 Olympics and was twice fifth in the World Championships in the past.
Hassan Tahmasebi of Iran was third at the 2006 and 2007 World Championships. Badri Khasia of Georgia won a World bronze medal in 2007 and was fifth in the 2006 World meet.
Nazmi Avluca of Turkey won the 2008 European Championships and has been a top challenger for many years. He was a World champion in 1999 and won a World silver medal in 2006 and a World bronze medal in 2005. 2002 World champion Ara Abrahamian of Sweden qualified his nation for the Olympics by placing fifth in the World Championships last year. Abrahamian was second behind Mishine at the 2004 Olympic Games.
It has been a rough weight class for recent World champions to qualify for Beijing. The 2006 World Champion was Mohammed Abdelfatah of Egypt and the 2005 World champion was Alim Selimav of Belarus. Neither of these countries have qualified to compete in the Olympics this year.
Jung-Sub Kim of Korea has been close to winning a medal in recent years, placing fifth at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. The 2008 Asian champion was Shingo Matsumoto of Japan. Yunior Estrada of Cuba was the 2008 Pan American champion.
Qualified nations at 84 kg/185 lbs. - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, France, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States
RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS
2007 World Championship results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Alexej Mishin (Russia); Silver - Brad Vering (United States); Bronze - Hassan Tahmasebi (Iran); Bronze - Badri Khasaia (Georgia); 5th - Jung-Sub Kim (Korea); 5th - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden); 7th - Nazmi Avluca (Turkey); 8th - Zoltán Fodor (Hungary); 9th - Jan Fischer (Germany); 10th - Alim Selimov (Belarus)
2006 World Championship results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Mohamed Abdelfatah (Egypt); Silver - Nazmi Avluca (Turkey); Bronze - Alexey Mishine (Russia); Bronze - Saman Tahmasebi (Iran); 5th - Badri Khasia (Georgia); 5th - Kim-Jussi Nurmela (Finland); 7th - Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland); 8th - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden); 9th - Shingo Matsumoto (Japan); 10th - Adomaitis Laimutis (Lithuania)
2005 World Championships results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Alim Selimav (Belarus); Silver - Alexei Mishine (Russia); Bronze - Sandor Bardosi (Hungary); Bronze - Namzi Avluca (Turkey); 5th - Kim Jung-Sub (Korea); 5th - Oleg Daragan (Ukraine); 7th - Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland); 8th - Shingo Matsumoto (Japan); 9th - Ntante Charempasvili (Greece); 10th - Luis Mendez (Cuba)
2004 Olympic Games results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Aleksei Michine (Russia); Silver -Ara Abrahamian (Sweden); Bronze -Viacheslav Makaranka (Belarus); 4th -Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 5th - Dimitros Avramis (Greece); 6th - Oleksandr Daragan (Ukraine); 7th - Shingo Matsumoto (Japan); 8th - Levon Geghamyan (Armenia); 9th - Behrouz Jamshidi (Iran); 10th - Attila Batky (Slovakia)
2003 World Championships results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Gocha Ziziashvilly (Israel) won by ref. dec. over Ara Abrahamian (Sweden), 2-0, ot, 9:00; Bronze - Attila Batky (Slovakia) decl Fritz Aanes (Norway), 3-2; 5th - Brad Vering (USA); 6th - Murhban Vakhtangadze (Georgia); 7th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 8th - Viachaslav Makaranka (Belarus); 9th - Melonin Noumonvi (France); 10th - Tarvi Thomberg (Estonia)
2002 World Championships results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden) dec. Aleksandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-1; Bronze - Mohamed Ibrahim Abd El Fattah (Egypt) dec. Levon Geghamyan (Armenia), 5-0; 5th - Brad Vering (United States); 6th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 7th - Bojan Mijatov (Yugoslavia); 8th - Cotcha Tsitsiashvili (Israel); 9th - Mukhran Vakhtangadze (Georgia); 10th - Viachaslav Makaranka (Belarus)
2001 World Championships results
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold - Mukran Vakrangadze (Georgia) won by ref. dec. over Matt Lindland (United States), 2-1, ot; Bronze - Oleksei Dorogan (Ukraine) dec. Alexandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-2, ot, 6:33; 5th - Sandor Bardosi (Hungary); 6th - Martin Lidberg (Sweden); 7th - Luis Mendez (Cuba); 8th - Evgeniy Erofaylov (Uzbekistan); 9th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 10th - Viachaslau Makaranka (Belarus)
Winning the silver medal at the World Championships in 2007 was veteran Brad Vering of the United States. It was the first World medal for Vering, who competed in the 2004 Olympics and was twice fifth in the World Championships in the past.
Hassan Tahmasebi of Iran was third at the 2006 and 2007 World Championships. Badri Khasia of Georgia won a World bronze medal in 2007 and was fifth in the 2006 World meet.
Nazmi Avluca of Turkey won the 2008 European Championships and has been a top challenger for many years. He was a World champion in 1999 and won a World silver medal in 2006 and a World bronze medal in 2005. 2002 World champion Ara Abrahamian of Sweden qualified his nation for the Olympics by placing fifth in the World Championships last year. Abrahamian was second behind Mishine at the 2004 Olympic Games.
It has been a rough weight class for recent World champions to qualify for Beijing. The 2006 World Champion was Mohammed Abdelfatah of Egypt and the 2005 World champion was Alim Selimav of Belarus. Neither of these countries have qualified to compete in the Olympics this year.
Jung-Sub Kim of Korea has been close to winning a medal in recent years, placing fifth at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. The 2008 Asian champion was Shingo Matsumoto of Japan. Yunior Estrada of Cuba was the 2008 Pan American champion.
Qualified nations at 84 kg/185 lbs. - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, France, Georgia, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States
RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS
2007 World Championship results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Alexej Mishin (Russia); Silver - Brad Vering (United States); Bronze - Hassan Tahmasebi (Iran); Bronze - Badri Khasaia (Georgia); 5th - Jung-Sub Kim (Korea); 5th - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden); 7th - Nazmi Avluca (Turkey); 8th - Zoltán Fodor (Hungary); 9th - Jan Fischer (Germany); 10th - Alim Selimov (Belarus)
2006 World Championship results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Mohamed Abdelfatah (Egypt); Silver - Nazmi Avluca (Turkey); Bronze - Alexey Mishine (Russia); Bronze - Saman Tahmasebi (Iran); 5th - Badri Khasia (Georgia); 5th - Kim-Jussi Nurmela (Finland); 7th - Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland); 8th - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden); 9th - Shingo Matsumoto (Japan); 10th - Adomaitis Laimutis (Lithuania)
2005 World Championships results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Alim Selimav (Belarus); Silver - Alexei Mishine (Russia); Bronze - Sandor Bardosi (Hungary); Bronze - Namzi Avluca (Turkey); 5th - Kim Jung-Sub (Korea); 5th - Oleg Daragan (Ukraine); 7th - Artur Michalkiewicz (Poland); 8th - Shingo Matsumoto (Japan); 9th - Ntante Charempasvili (Greece); 10th - Luis Mendez (Cuba)
2004 Olympic Games results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Aleksei Michine (Russia); Silver -Ara Abrahamian (Sweden); Bronze -Viacheslav Makaranka (Belarus); 4th -Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 5th - Dimitros Avramis (Greece); 6th - Oleksandr Daragan (Ukraine); 7th - Shingo Matsumoto (Japan); 8th - Levon Geghamyan (Armenia); 9th - Behrouz Jamshidi (Iran); 10th - Attila Batky (Slovakia)
2003 World Championships results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Gocha Ziziashvilly (Israel) won by ref. dec. over Ara Abrahamian (Sweden), 2-0, ot, 9:00; Bronze - Attila Batky (Slovakia) decl Fritz Aanes (Norway), 3-2; 5th - Brad Vering (USA); 6th - Murhban Vakhtangadze (Georgia); 7th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 8th - Viachaslav Makaranka (Belarus); 9th - Melonin Noumonvi (France); 10th - Tarvi Thomberg (Estonia)
2002 World Championships results
84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden) dec. Aleksandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-1; Bronze - Mohamed Ibrahim Abd El Fattah (Egypt) dec. Levon Geghamyan (Armenia), 5-0; 5th - Brad Vering (United States); 6th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 7th - Bojan Mijatov (Yugoslavia); 8th - Cotcha Tsitsiashvili (Israel); 9th - Mukhran Vakhtangadze (Georgia); 10th - Viachaslav Makaranka (Belarus)
2001 World Championships results
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold - Mukran Vakrangadze (Georgia) won by ref. dec. over Matt Lindland (United States), 2-1, ot; Bronze - Oleksei Dorogan (Ukraine) dec. Alexandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-2, ot, 6:33; 5th - Sandor Bardosi (Hungary); 6th - Martin Lidberg (Sweden); 7th - Luis Mendez (Cuba); 8th - Evgeniy Erofaylov (Uzbekistan); 9th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 10th - Viachaslau Makaranka (Belarus)
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