Mongolian women's freestyle wrestlers Chimdee and Battsetseg enjoy their winnings from the 201 World Championships In Mongolia, Battsetseg was given a three-bedroom apartment and a two-pound gold bar for winning the 63-kilo crown in women's wrestling. Her teammate Chimdee (silver, 60 kilos) grabbed a one-pound gold bar for her runner-up performance at Worlds. She was also given a sports car since she was given an apartment for winning last year's world title at 60 kilos.
The men wrestlers who qualified Olympic weights for Mongolia earned similar gifts, including Nomin and Unurbat who earned a two-bedroom apartment and one-pound gold bar for taking second at 61 kilos and 74 kilos. Bekhbayar earned a half pound of gold and a two-bedroom apartment.
On the Russian side Abdulrashid Sadualev took home a Toyota Land Cruiser in 2014 and was given prize money in 2015 for his second World title in as many years. Vorobieva was also awarded more than $50,000 in prize money for her World title as did other Russian champions like Roman Vlasov, though the exact amount was unknown.
Jordan Burroughs, Kyle Snyder, Adeline Gray and Helen Maroulis each received $50,000 for their gold-medal victories in Las Vegas, even though Snyder will have to wait until his post-college years to collect the bounty.
Turkish heavyweight champions Rıza Kayaalp and Taha Akgul are rumored to have received as much as $100,000 for their titles and have been on an impressive countrywide victory tour where they meet with the underprivileged in communities known to support wrestling.
Ukrainian Zhan Beleniuk hasn't stopped making public appearances, and though the exact amount of his award money hasn't been published he's been seen in photographs holding gifted jewelry and awards.
Rasul Chunayev takes a selfie from the front seat of his new SUV awarded for winning the Greco-Roman World championship at 71 kilosAll these cash prizes are great for the wrestlers and the countries so apt to promote their achievements. For wrestlers like Battsetseg and Chimdee the money is literally life changing, allowing parents to retire and to go to school. Even for Russians and Turkish wrestlers the money helps family members get medical attention they need and raises their own projection from a life of poverty to one of respect and admiration in the community.
Wrestling is among the best places to witness social mobility through sport and there is no better time to watch that wheel spin upwards than in the weeks following the World Championships.
To your questions …
Q: Kyle Snyder already has a World championship under his belt. If he goes on to win Olympic gold or even medal, what are the chances that he goes back to Ohio State? While it would very fun for us fans and even more so for his teammates, doesn't he have more to lose than to gain? Lastly, have any Olympic medalists gone back to college?
-- Andy S.
Foley: John Smith is the most famous World champion to return to college after gold. The Oklahoma State legend won the 1987 World championship and came back to school in 1988 as a senior where he won the NCAA title and then went in to win Olympic gold.
Yojiro Uetake won an Olympic gold for Japan in 1964 after an undefeated season at Oklahoma State. He then went back to win two more titles in 1965 and 1966 before winning a second Olympic gold in 1968. He was undefeated during his college career.
Regardless of Snyder's performance in 2016 I think it's almost certain that he will return to Columbus. Take it from someone who lived on the road and overseas for more than a year on the wrestling circuit (albeit behind a keyboard) -- that's a lonely go. Snyder deserves the camaraderie of college and the chance to graduate. He'll receive awesome training in folkstyle to keep himself in shape and prepare for his run at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The money earned as an Olympic medalist might be tempting, but from my understanding he can recover that money after he graduates since it's not a sponsorship and is instead a pre-established award.
The most compelling reason is that an Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder wouldn't WANT to change up his winning formula without reason.
Q: Any chance we'll see the triumphant return of the Backpoints Podcast? I scrolled through my podcast subscriptions and realized that it's been a long time. Is it safe to say that you no longer need to do the podcast because you're now spending the wealth accumulated from the podcast bank roll?
-- Curt H.
Foley: I'm writing this mailbag from the backseat of my Maybach Exelero. Recognize the cash flow of the podcast!
No, I don't think Backpoints will be revived, but I do think I'll try to form something at the international level and will drop in on it every once in a while to discuss the big topics and names. Podcasts are a great way to burn a commute and I'd love to add to the conversation with something informative … especially in the Olympic year.
Q: Darrion Caldwell fights Shawn Bunch on Fright night in Bellator. Who are you picking?
-- Mike C.
Foley: This has all the makings of a very, very boring matchup. Wrestlers are prone to wrestle and though both are much improved strikers, neither has the makings of a one-punch KO artist (Bunch's last performance being the exception).
I'd have to side with Caldwell who has the length to frustrate Bunch and the ground game to keep him on the mat. However, I tend to think we'll see a lot of clinching by the cage, some great takedown attempts and at least one rear-naked choke attempt, but otherwise they'll go the distance … from a distance.
Q: How does the U.S. Open for this Olympic year differ from last year's U.S. Open? Rumor has it that competitors who have already qualified for the Olympic Team Trials cannot compete at the Open. Does this mean that the winners of the Open will not get a bye to the finals of the Olympic Team Trials?
-- Scott M.
Foley: The only byes given in men's freestyle in 2016 will be to Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder, who medaled at the 2015 World Championships. Winners of the U.S. Open are qualified and (likely) placed as the top seed at the 2016 Olympic Team Trials.
Winners of the U.S. Open will still need to win the challenge tournament at 74 kilos and 97 kilos to make the best-of-three finals for the Olympic team spot. If they are at one of the other four weights the challenge tournament finals will be best of three against the winners from each side of the bracket.
Q: Where would you rank Adeline Gray in the world pound-for-pound women's freestyle rankings?
-- Mike C.
Adeline Gray with the American flag after winning the World title in Las Vegas (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)While Gray has enjoyed heaps of success the past two years, her style doesn't often wow fans, and the competitive depth of the weight class isn't on par with the first five Olympic weights. Also -- and this is worth mentioning -- almost once a tournament she is dead to rights (Qian Zhou at 2014 Worlds and Aline Da Silva Ferreira at 2015 Worlds) but somehow rebounds. That shows her incredible will to win, but keeps her from being mentioned alongside the tactical wizardry of women in the top ten. Still, finding a way to win is probably a skill that I'd take over technical proficiency, especially in an Olympic year.
A women's top ten that doesn't include any backups from Japan or China might look something like …
1. Kaori Icho (Japan)
2. Saori Yoshida (Japan)
3. Oksana Herhel (Ukraine)
4. Eri Tosaka (Japan)
5. Helen Maroulis (USA)
6. Natalia Vorobieva (Russia)
7. Maria Stadnyck (Azerbaijan)
8. Zhou Feng (China)
9. Sofia Mattsson (Sweden)
10. Sukhee Tserenchimed (Mongolia)
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now