Although many Greco-Roman athletes who are set to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games have arrived in and around Paris, a large number of delegations are not expected to touch down in the region until just prior to the start of the tournament.
Bulgaria is one of them. This past Friday, BUL’s three-man roster consisting of Aik Mnatsakanian (77 kg), Semen Novikov (87 kg, formerly of Ukraine), and Kiril Milov (130 kg) drew the curtain on their last training camp, which took place in Teteven. The BUL contingent is set to make their way to Paris this coming weekend (August 3 and 4), which suggests a strategy that is focused on keeping the wrestlers home for long as possible before competition begins. The distance from Sofia, BUL to Paris, FRA is approximately 1,100 miles, which equates to a three-hour flight.
Mnatakanian, twice a World bronze medalist in the non-Olympic category of 72 kilograms, secured 77 for BUL by virtue of having advanced to the final of the World OG Qualifier in May; Novikov — who came over to Bulgaria just under two seasons ago — qualified when he walked away with bronze at the ’23 Worlds.
Milov’s story is interesting. The two-time World silver will be making his debut at heavyweight in Paris after Bulgaria was awarded a 130 kg quota late last month. At the European Qualifier, it was Georgi Ivanov who started for BUL; Ivanov went 1-1, with his loss coming to Beka Kandelaki (AZE). Kandelaki was eventually defeated by ’18 World Champion/two-time Olympic bronze Sergey Semenov of Russia. Given that a) Semenov was ruled ineligible, and b) that Sabah Shariati went on to clinch one of the 130 kg spots available at the World OG Qualifier, thus providing AZE with a license, Bulgaria was next on the list to receive a slot and they have selected Milov to wrestle in Paris in place of Ivanov.
Other BUL News
The Bulgarian Wrestling Federation also announced last week that, for the first time in nine years, the annual Dan-Kolov-Nikola Petrov Memorial is slated to be contested in January. In recent years, Bulgaria’s flagship international event has mainly been held in either February or March. At press time, United World Wrestling has two “Ranking Series” tournaments scheduled for February, with the Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Croatia presumed to be the first.
GER & USA Notes
Germany will be sending two wrestlers to the mat in Paris, Lucas Lazogianis (97 kg) and Jello Krahmer (130 kg). Both earned U23 World bronze, but six years apart (Lazogianis, ’23; Krahmer, ’17). Krahmer, 28, was one of the bigger stories to come out of the European Olympic Qualifier in Baku. In what was one of his most impressive Senior-level performances, Krahmer defeated, in order, Dariusz Vitek (HUN), Romas Fridrikas (LTU), and ’22 World bronze Alin-Alexuc Ciurarriu (ROU) to qualify 130 for GER. Lazogianis — who is widely-recognized as one of the most promising young upper-weights in the sport — is also one of the athletes whose Olympic berth is the result of AIN disqualifications. Lazogianis got clipped in the Baku semifinal by well-decorated Robert Kobliashvili of Georgia and was decisioned by Uzur Dzhuzupbekov (KAZ) in the “Paris Olympic Playoff” held in Istanbul one month later. With Russia boycotting the Olympics, another 97 kg spot was availed and it went to Germany.
Recently, the German Wrestling Federation (Deutscher Ringer-Bund) produced a video featuring Krahmer that provides a look at his training routine and includes his perspectives on having qualified for Paris. It is highly-recommended viewing.
USA Training in Normandy
As reported last week, the USA Greco-Roman Olympic Team — Kamal Bey (77 kg, Army/WCAP), Payton Jacobson (87 kg, Sunkist/NTS), Joe Rau (97 kg, TMWC), and Adam Coon (130 kg, NYAC/Cliff Keen) — have started their final preparations for the ’24 Games in Normandy (approx. 138 miles east of Paris).
Haight, Bisek; More with House
This week will see the release of three Q&A’s. First is a long-awaited piece surrounding Cheney Haight, who last year became the USA Greco-Roman National Developmental Coach. The latest edition of Marquette Matters with NMU Head Coach Andy Bisek will follow, and then National Team head coach Herb House will go on-the-record one last time before Greco-Roman wrestling begins in Paris.
Listen to “5PM57: Kamal Bey and David Stepanyan” on Spreaker.
Listen to “5PM56: Rich Carlson and Spencer Woods” on Spreaker.
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