Olympic Games preview in women's freestyle at 58 kg/128 lbs.
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by USA Wrestling
Three-time Olympic champion Kaori Icho of Japan, competing in the 2015 World finals, will attempt to win a fourth Olympic gold. Photo by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
Date of competition: Wednesday, August 17
One of the greatest wrestlers in history, three-time Olympic champion and 10-time World champion Kaori Icho of Japan, seeks a record fourth-Olympic gold. She won most of her golds at 63 kg, but when they changed to six Olympic weights for women, she came down and won the last two World titles at 58 kg.
She will be seeking her fourth Olympic title alongside teammate Saori Yoshida at 53 kg. Yoshida has more combined titles than Icho, because Icho did not enter every World Championships along the way, while Yoshida has not missed any. They are both superstars in Japan, and will be the center of attention as they attempt to become the first four-time Olympic wrestling champions, regardless of gender.
It is very rare when Icho loses a match, but she was beaten in the finals of 2016 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia by Orkhon Purevdorj of Mongolia, who qualified for the Olympics by taking silver at the Asian Olympic Qualifier. Purevdorj’s best achievements were a silver at the 2014 World Military Championships and a 2013 Junior World bronze medal. Basically, there are many in the field with a better resume, but Purevdorj has a win over Icho, which nobody else can boast.
Azerbaijan’s Yuliya Ratkevich was a 2009 World champion at 59 kg and has won a 2012 Olympic bronze medal . In this Olympic cycle, Ratkevich won a World silver in 2014 at 60 kg, and World bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. Overall, Ratkevich owns five World medals and her Olympic medal. She also boasts a 2013 World University Games gold medal.
Winning a silver medals at the 2015 World Championships at 58 kg behind Icho was Petra Olli of Finland. She was close to a medal in 2014, with a fifth place finish at Worlds. Olli had a great age-group career on the way up, winning two Junior World bronze medals, a Cadet World bronze medal and a Youth Olympic Games bronze medal.
Two-time World medalist Valeria Koblova of Russia lost to Icho in the 2014 World Championships finals to take a silver medal, and also won a 2013 World bronze medal. She was fifth in the 2012 Olympic Games. Koblova added a 2013 World University Games title and has two Junior World medals. She won the Russian Nationals this year and is the expected Russian entry here.
Colombia’s Jackeline Renteria has won two Olympic bronze medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics at 55 kg, and seeks a third Olympic medal at a new weight class. Renteria has not won a World medal, but was fifth in the 2013 and 2015 World Championships. She won a Pan American Games gold way back in 2007, and also was a 2006 Junior World silver medalist.
A 2015 World champion at 60 kg, Oksana Herhel of Ukraine, is back in the field. After qualifying for the Olympics, she was banned for testing positive for meldonium. After the IOC provided a clarified interpretation on how to manage the meldonium tests, Herhel became eligible and was reinstated into the field.
Elif Yesilirmak of Turkey is a rising star, having won World bronze medals in 2014 and 2015. She also competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. She has not entered many events in comparison to others in the field, with a 2015 European Games bronze medal among her other top achievements.
Malin Johanna Mattsson of Sweden was a 2010 World bronze medalist and has placed fifth in the last two World Championships in different weight classes, competing at 60 kg in 2014 and 58 kg in 2015. She boasts 2009 and 2014 European titles. She won a 2005 Junior World title and claimed four Junior World medals early in her career.
Marwa Amri of Tunisia has been one of Africa’s top stars and made history when she held a No. 1 World ranking in at 60 kg a few seasons ago. In total, she has won eight African Championships. She qualified for Rio by winning the Africa/Oceania Olympic Qualifier. She was also in the field at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Michelle Fazzari of Canada won the Pan American Olympic Qualifier. A 2007 Commonwealth champion, Fazzari has competed in three World Championships but has not reached the medal rounds. The Asian Olympic Qualifier champion was Aisuluu Tynbekova of Kyrgyzstan, who also won the Asian Championships in 2016. Tynbekova was a 2013 Junior World medalist.
Mimi Hristova of Bulgaria won the European Olympic Qualifier, easily the best achievement in her career to date. Hrsitova best finish at the World Championships was seventh in 2014, and her top European Championships finish was third in 2014 and 2016.
Host Brazil’s Joice Souza Da Silva won both the Pan American Games and the Pan American Championships in 2015, and was a 2014 World Military silver medalist. She also wrestled in the 2012 Olympics. Mariana Cherdivara-Esanu of Moldova won silver medals at the 2012 World University Championships and the 2011 Junior World Championships.
Others in the field with solid experience and achievements include Sakshi Malik of India, Lisette Antes Castillo of Ecuador and Luisa Niemesch of Germany. Malik was a 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist. Antes Castillo was fifth in the 2014 World Championships, won a 2014 Pan American Championships title and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. Niemesch was a 2014 Junior World silver medalist.
Others in the field include Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria and Janet Sovero Nino of Peru. Adeniyi boasts golds at the African Championships, the All African Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Championships. Sovero Nino, who has won five career Pan American medals, was added to the Olympic field in mid-July during the final allocation of qualifiers through the Tripartite Commission.
PROJECTED OLYMPIC GAMES FIELD
Azerbaijan - Yuliya Ratkevich (World No. 9)
Brazil - Joice Souza Da Silva (World No. 20)
Bulgaria - Mimi Hristova (World No. 10)
Canada - Michelle Fazzari (World No. 16)
Colombia - Jackeline Renteria (World No. 5)
Ecuador - Lisette Antes Castillo (World No. 18)
Finland - Petra Olli (World No. 1 at 60 kg)
Germany - Luisa Niemesch (World No. 11)
India - Sakshi Malik
Japan - Kaori Icho (World No. 1)
Kyrgyzstan - Aisuluu Tynybekova (World No. 6)
Moldova - Mariana Cherdivara Esanu (World No. 17)
Mongolia - Orkhon Purevdorj (World No. 7)
Nigeria - Aminat Adeniyi (World No. 13)
Peru – Janet Sovero Nino
Russia - Valeria Koblova (World No. 2)
Sweden - Malin Johanna Mattsson (World No. 3)
Tunisia - Marwa Amri (World No. 12)
Turkey - Elif Jale Yesilirmak (World No. 4)
Ukraine – Oksana Herhel (World No. 5 at 60 kg)
RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS
2015 World Championships
58 kg/128 lbs. - Gold – Kaori Icho (Japan); Silver – Petra Olli (Finland); Bronze – Elif Yesilirmak (Turkey); Bronze – Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); 5th – Jackeline Renteria Castillo (Colombia); 5th – Johanna Mattsson (Sweden); 7th – Aiym Abdildina (Kazakhstan); 8th – Marianna Sastin (Hungary); 9th – Michelle Fazzari (Canada); 10th – Roksana Zasina (Poland)
2014 World Championships
58 kg/128 lbs. - Gold – Kaori Icho (Japan); Silver – Valeria Kolblova (Russia); Bronze – Anastasiya Huchok (Belarus); Bronze – Elif Jale Ysilirmak (Turkey); 5th – Alli Ragan (USA); 5th – Lisset Antes (Ecuador); 7th – Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria); 8th – Munkhtuya Tungalag (Mongolia); 9th – Zhou Zhangting (China); 10th – Irina Netreba (Azerbaijan)
2013 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold – Mariana Sastin (Hungary); Silver – Taybe Yusein (Bulgaria); Bronze – Munkhtuya Tungalag (Mongolia); Bronze – Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); 5th – Ayaka Ito (Japan); 5th – Tetyana Lavenchuk (Ukraine); 7th – Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan); 8th – Joyce Souza Da Silva (Brazil); 9th – Alli Ragan (USA); 10th – Karima Sanchez Karima (Spain)
2012 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold – Lan Zhang (China); Silver – Zalina Sidakova (Belarus); Bronze – Munkhtuya Tungalag (Mongolia); Bronze – Olga Butkevych (Great Britain); 5th - Sheoran Shilpi (India); 5th - Kayoko Shimada (Japan); 7th - Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); 8th - Ekaterina Melnikova (Russia); 9th - Michelle Fazzari (Canada); 10th - Leigh Jaynes (USA)
2011 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. – Gold - Ganna Vasylenko (Ukraine); Silver - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden); Bronze - Takako Saito (Japan); Bronze - Sona Ahmadli (Azerbaijan); 5th - Dorj Narmandakh (Mongolia); 5th - Amanda Gerhart (Canada); 7th - Nadzeya Mikhalkova (Belarus) ; 8th - Adeline Vescan (France); 9th - Valeria Zholobova (Russia) ; 10th - Agata Pietrzyk (Poland)
2010 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold – Battsetseg Soronzonbold (Mongolia); Silver – Lian Zhang (China); Bronze – Ayako Shoda (Japan); Bronze – Johanna Mattsson (Sweden); 5th – Tonya Verbeek (Canada); 5th – Kelsey Campbell (USA); 7th – Laura Skujina (Lithuania); 8th – Olga Kalinina (Kazakhstan); 9th - Alka Tomar (India); 10th – Joice Souza da Silva (Brazil)
2009 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold - Yulia Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); Silver - Agata Pietrzyk (Poland); Bronze - Marianna Sastin (Hungary); Bronze - Ganna Vasylenko (Ukraine); 5th - Deanna Rix (USA); 5th - Katherine Patroch (Canada); 7th - Olga Kalinina (Kazakhstan); 8th - Ludmila Cristea (Moldova); 9th - Aurora Fajardo (Spain); 10th - Olga Kiosova (Russia)
Date of competition: Wednesday, August 17
One of the greatest wrestlers in history, three-time Olympic champion and 10-time World champion Kaori Icho of Japan, seeks a record fourth-Olympic gold. She won most of her golds at 63 kg, but when they changed to six Olympic weights for women, she came down and won the last two World titles at 58 kg.
She will be seeking her fourth Olympic title alongside teammate Saori Yoshida at 53 kg. Yoshida has more combined titles than Icho, because Icho did not enter every World Championships along the way, while Yoshida has not missed any. They are both superstars in Japan, and will be the center of attention as they attempt to become the first four-time Olympic wrestling champions, regardless of gender.
It is very rare when Icho loses a match, but she was beaten in the finals of 2016 Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix in Russia by Orkhon Purevdorj of Mongolia, who qualified for the Olympics by taking silver at the Asian Olympic Qualifier. Purevdorj’s best achievements were a silver at the 2014 World Military Championships and a 2013 Junior World bronze medal. Basically, there are many in the field with a better resume, but Purevdorj has a win over Icho, which nobody else can boast.
Azerbaijan’s Yuliya Ratkevich was a 2009 World champion at 59 kg and has won a 2012 Olympic bronze medal . In this Olympic cycle, Ratkevich won a World silver in 2014 at 60 kg, and World bronze medals in 2013 and 2015. Overall, Ratkevich owns five World medals and her Olympic medal. She also boasts a 2013 World University Games gold medal.
Winning a silver medals at the 2015 World Championships at 58 kg behind Icho was Petra Olli of Finland. She was close to a medal in 2014, with a fifth place finish at Worlds. Olli had a great age-group career on the way up, winning two Junior World bronze medals, a Cadet World bronze medal and a Youth Olympic Games bronze medal.
Two-time World medalist Valeria Koblova of Russia lost to Icho in the 2014 World Championships finals to take a silver medal, and also won a 2013 World bronze medal. She was fifth in the 2012 Olympic Games. Koblova added a 2013 World University Games title and has two Junior World medals. She won the Russian Nationals this year and is the expected Russian entry here.
Colombia’s Jackeline Renteria has won two Olympic bronze medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics at 55 kg, and seeks a third Olympic medal at a new weight class. Renteria has not won a World medal, but was fifth in the 2013 and 2015 World Championships. She won a Pan American Games gold way back in 2007, and also was a 2006 Junior World silver medalist.
A 2015 World champion at 60 kg, Oksana Herhel of Ukraine, is back in the field. After qualifying for the Olympics, she was banned for testing positive for meldonium. After the IOC provided a clarified interpretation on how to manage the meldonium tests, Herhel became eligible and was reinstated into the field.
Elif Yesilirmak of Turkey is a rising star, having won World bronze medals in 2014 and 2015. She also competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. She has not entered many events in comparison to others in the field, with a 2015 European Games bronze medal among her other top achievements.
Malin Johanna Mattsson of Sweden was a 2010 World bronze medalist and has placed fifth in the last two World Championships in different weight classes, competing at 60 kg in 2014 and 58 kg in 2015. She boasts 2009 and 2014 European titles. She won a 2005 Junior World title and claimed four Junior World medals early in her career.
Marwa Amri of Tunisia has been one of Africa’s top stars and made history when she held a No. 1 World ranking in at 60 kg a few seasons ago. In total, she has won eight African Championships. She qualified for Rio by winning the Africa/Oceania Olympic Qualifier. She was also in the field at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Michelle Fazzari of Canada won the Pan American Olympic Qualifier. A 2007 Commonwealth champion, Fazzari has competed in three World Championships but has not reached the medal rounds. The Asian Olympic Qualifier champion was Aisuluu Tynbekova of Kyrgyzstan, who also won the Asian Championships in 2016. Tynbekova was a 2013 Junior World medalist.
Mimi Hristova of Bulgaria won the European Olympic Qualifier, easily the best achievement in her career to date. Hrsitova best finish at the World Championships was seventh in 2014, and her top European Championships finish was third in 2014 and 2016.
Host Brazil’s Joice Souza Da Silva won both the Pan American Games and the Pan American Championships in 2015, and was a 2014 World Military silver medalist. She also wrestled in the 2012 Olympics. Mariana Cherdivara-Esanu of Moldova won silver medals at the 2012 World University Championships and the 2011 Junior World Championships.
Others in the field with solid experience and achievements include Sakshi Malik of India, Lisette Antes Castillo of Ecuador and Luisa Niemesch of Germany. Malik was a 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medalist. Antes Castillo was fifth in the 2014 World Championships, won a 2014 Pan American Championships title and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games. Niemesch was a 2014 Junior World silver medalist.
Others in the field include Aminat Adeniyi of Nigeria and Janet Sovero Nino of Peru. Adeniyi boasts golds at the African Championships, the All African Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Commonwealth Championships. Sovero Nino, who has won five career Pan American medals, was added to the Olympic field in mid-July during the final allocation of qualifiers through the Tripartite Commission.
PROJECTED OLYMPIC GAMES FIELD
Azerbaijan - Yuliya Ratkevich (World No. 9)
Brazil - Joice Souza Da Silva (World No. 20)
Bulgaria - Mimi Hristova (World No. 10)
Canada - Michelle Fazzari (World No. 16)
Colombia - Jackeline Renteria (World No. 5)
Ecuador - Lisette Antes Castillo (World No. 18)
Finland - Petra Olli (World No. 1 at 60 kg)
Germany - Luisa Niemesch (World No. 11)
India - Sakshi Malik
Japan - Kaori Icho (World No. 1)
Kyrgyzstan - Aisuluu Tynybekova (World No. 6)
Moldova - Mariana Cherdivara Esanu (World No. 17)
Mongolia - Orkhon Purevdorj (World No. 7)
Nigeria - Aminat Adeniyi (World No. 13)
Peru – Janet Sovero Nino
Russia - Valeria Koblova (World No. 2)
Sweden - Malin Johanna Mattsson (World No. 3)
Tunisia - Marwa Amri (World No. 12)
Turkey - Elif Jale Yesilirmak (World No. 4)
Ukraine – Oksana Herhel (World No. 5 at 60 kg)
RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS
2015 World Championships
58 kg/128 lbs. - Gold – Kaori Icho (Japan); Silver – Petra Olli (Finland); Bronze – Elif Yesilirmak (Turkey); Bronze – Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); 5th – Jackeline Renteria Castillo (Colombia); 5th – Johanna Mattsson (Sweden); 7th – Aiym Abdildina (Kazakhstan); 8th – Marianna Sastin (Hungary); 9th – Michelle Fazzari (Canada); 10th – Roksana Zasina (Poland)
2014 World Championships
58 kg/128 lbs. - Gold – Kaori Icho (Japan); Silver – Valeria Kolblova (Russia); Bronze – Anastasiya Huchok (Belarus); Bronze – Elif Jale Ysilirmak (Turkey); 5th – Alli Ragan (USA); 5th – Lisset Antes (Ecuador); 7th – Mimi Hristova (Bulgaria); 8th – Munkhtuya Tungalag (Mongolia); 9th – Zhou Zhangting (China); 10th – Irina Netreba (Azerbaijan)
2013 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold – Mariana Sastin (Hungary); Silver – Taybe Yusein (Bulgaria); Bronze – Munkhtuya Tungalag (Mongolia); Bronze – Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); 5th – Ayaka Ito (Japan); 5th – Tetyana Lavenchuk (Ukraine); 7th – Aisuluu Tynybekova (Kyrgyzstan); 8th – Joyce Souza Da Silva (Brazil); 9th – Alli Ragan (USA); 10th – Karima Sanchez Karima (Spain)
2012 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold – Lan Zhang (China); Silver – Zalina Sidakova (Belarus); Bronze – Munkhtuya Tungalag (Mongolia); Bronze – Olga Butkevych (Great Britain); 5th - Sheoran Shilpi (India); 5th - Kayoko Shimada (Japan); 7th - Yuliya Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); 8th - Ekaterina Melnikova (Russia); 9th - Michelle Fazzari (Canada); 10th - Leigh Jaynes (USA)
2011 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. – Gold - Ganna Vasylenko (Ukraine); Silver - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden); Bronze - Takako Saito (Japan); Bronze - Sona Ahmadli (Azerbaijan); 5th - Dorj Narmandakh (Mongolia); 5th - Amanda Gerhart (Canada); 7th - Nadzeya Mikhalkova (Belarus) ; 8th - Adeline Vescan (France); 9th - Valeria Zholobova (Russia) ; 10th - Agata Pietrzyk (Poland)
2010 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold – Battsetseg Soronzonbold (Mongolia); Silver – Lian Zhang (China); Bronze – Ayako Shoda (Japan); Bronze – Johanna Mattsson (Sweden); 5th – Tonya Verbeek (Canada); 5th – Kelsey Campbell (USA); 7th – Laura Skujina (Lithuania); 8th – Olga Kalinina (Kazakhstan); 9th - Alka Tomar (India); 10th – Joice Souza da Silva (Brazil)
2009 World Championships
59 kg/130 lbs. - Gold - Yulia Ratkevich (Azerbaijan); Silver - Agata Pietrzyk (Poland); Bronze - Marianna Sastin (Hungary); Bronze - Ganna Vasylenko (Ukraine); 5th - Deanna Rix (USA); 5th - Katherine Patroch (Canada); 7th - Olga Kalinina (Kazakhstan); 8th - Ludmila Cristea (Moldova); 9th - Aurora Fajardo (Spain); 10th - Olga Kiosova (Russia)
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