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Paris 2024 wrestling preview:
Yazdani hopeful for freestyle gold
Now, Yazdani is the favorite to win the gold. He can also become the first Iran wrestler to win two Olympic golds.
The 86kg weight class on August 8 isn’t the only one in which history can be created. Both the other two weight classes also have a chance to see some historic medals to be won.
The 57kg in Freestyle will have world champion Stevan Micic (SRB) trying to win the first medal for Serbia in Freestyle at the Olympics. Zelimkhan Abakarov (ALB), also a world champion, has the same task for Albania.
Ever since his move to 86kg after winning the gold medal at 74kg in Rio, Yazdani has lost to only one wrestler – Taylor. With the American not in Paris, Yazdani has his tail up.
Throughout the 2023 season, Yazdani wrestled with a shoulder injury and it became a headache for Iran when he underwent surgery. Iran contemplated having a wrestle-off between Yazdani and 92kg world champion Kamran Ghasempour (Iran). But then Brooks beat Taylor.
“I thank God that I was able to get on the mat in international competitions after seven months and 13 days,” Yazdani had said in Budapest. “I had a little preparation and it was around 60 percent. I hadn’t wrestled for a long time. I have some weaknesses that I hope I can fix before the Olympics so that I can wrestle better than these competitions and get the gold medal. I hope that until the Olympics, I can eliminate my weaknesses so I can win the best medal for my country and our good people.”
Yazdani was winning the Tokyo final when Taylor scored a takedown in the final moments to claim the gold. A furious Yazdani walked off the mat, hitting anything that came his way. But two months after that loss, he defeated Taylor at the Oslo World Championships, his only win over the American. Taylor would rebound to beat him at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
Brooks, a four-time NCAA champion, defeated Taylor in a best-of-three series at the trials. Brooks has a U23 world title and is now the biggest threat to Yazdani’s gold medal.
Yazdani has a solid underhook and has improved his conditioning but Brooks’ defense is top-notch as Taylor found out at the trials. A wait-and-watch counter-attacking bout can ensue if the two meet in Paris.
Brooks is unseeded and will be drawn at random in the 16-wrestler bracket which means he can face any of the top wrestlers in the first bout.
Myles Amine (SMR), who won a historic bronze for San Marino in Tokyo, is returning, hoping to stand on the podium again. Dauren Kurugliev (GRE) is another master of defense and will be a tough case to crack for any wrestler.
Osman Nurmagomedov (AZE), Magomed Ramazanov (BUL), Vladimeri Gamkrelidze (GEO), Hayato Ishiguro (JPN) and Azamat Dauletbekov (KAZ) are some other potential medal hopefuls in Paris.
In another development on Wednesday, Iran’s freestyle wrestlers collected nine gold medals to become U20 Asian champions in the competitions held in Thailand.
On the final day of the Asian Freestyle Championships on Wednesday, the Iranian freestyle wrestling team became champions after grabbing 9 medals.
The Iranian wrestlers bagged 5 gold, 2 silver and 2 medals to win the title of the competition for their country.
The Iranian team became the champion with 201 points, the team of Kazakhstan with 150 became runner-up and Uzbekistan with 136 points came third.
The U20 Asian Freestyle Championships were held on July 23-24, 2024 in Sriracha, Thailand.
Also, the superb performance of Iranian representatives on the first day of the Freestyle Wrestling of Asian Youth Championships led to the winning of five medals.
The bagging of three gold medals, one silver and a bronze with 110 points on Tuesday paved the ground for the Iranian team to be crowned on Wednesday after the completion of the second day of competitions.