Hey everyone,
This is my first post here. I'm an Iranian-Austrian living in Germany, and I've been following wrestling for a few years now. Just wanted to share some thoughts:
Even though Russia wasn't officially competing, they were definitely still in the mix through athletes from Albania, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan, and Bahrain. There were basically seven medalists in freestyle wrestling who were from Russia (mostly Dagestan), which honestly made it feel like there were more Russian wrestlers than when they were officially competing.
Japan is really stepping up in the lighter weight classes. Their culture of discipline, perfectionism, and staying cool under pressure really shines through in their wrestling. They ended up with 8 gold medals across 18 weight classes in freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s wrestling.
I was surprised to see the U.S. wrestlers not as dominant as they've been recently, especially considering how they've been crushing it at the World Championships in the past few years. I'm curious to hear what you all think is behind this. I know it’s a tough question, but still.
It was tough watching Yazdani, Zare, and Amouzad get silver instead of gold, but overall, I think the Iranian wrestlers did well, grabbing 8 medals across 12 weight classes in freestyle and Greco-Roman. What hurts the most is Yazdani’s injury flaring up at the worst time. I think we were all pumped to see Yazdani vs. Brooks.
Looking forward to hearing what you all think.
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