The final action in the main arena of Brazil was accompanied by a downpour, which slightly spoiled the mood of the participants in the “parade of heroes”, the spectators in the stands and the organizers of the ceremony. Although for those who leave Rio in a good mood, with a sense of accomplishment and with a won medal, such a little thing as rain is unlikely to spoil the impression of the first Olympic Games in South America.
Medal count
Sputnik, Maria Tsimintia
Few doubted that the US team would win the overall team competition. In 1992, during the Games in Barcelona, the Americans took second place, losing to the united CIS team. Since then, they have consistently been among the leaders in the team standings. The only misfire happened in Beijing in 2008, where they lost leadership to the Chinese.
© REUTERS / PAWEL KOPCZYNSKI
The British, who at the Games in Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) did not even make it into the top ten, but finished in the top ten in Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004), became second.
Until the penultimate day of competition, Russia waged a desperate struggle with Germany for fourth place and ultimately managed to get ahead of its competitors, winning two more golds. The final medal of the highest dignity for the Russian national team was brought by freestyle wrestler Soslan Ramonov.
The Georgian national team won seven medals at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and, in terms of the total number of awards won, repeated the result of the London Games. However, it surpassed them in quality terms. Four years ago, Georgians climbed to the highest step of the podium only once. This time the Georgian anthem was played twice in Rio de Janeiro.
Georgian medalists of the XXXI Summer Olympic Games
Lasha Talakhadze (weightlifting, +105 kg)
Vladimir Khinchegashvili (freestyle wrestling, -57 kg)
Varlam Liparteliani (judo, -90 kg)
Lasha Shavdatuashvili (judo, -73 kg)
Irakli Turmanidze (weightlifting, +105 kg)
Shmagi Bolkvadze (Greco-Roman wrestling, -66 kg)
Geno Petriashvili (freestyle wrestling, -125 kg)
© REUTERS / STOYAN NENOV
It is impossible not to note the amazing progress of the Azerbaijani Olympians, who won 18 medals (1-7-10) at the Games in Brazil. They exceeded the London figure by eight awards.
Heroes of the Olympics...
Swimmer Michael Phelps, who, for a moment, is already 31 years old, again “came, saw, conquered.” At the Rio Games, the American won five gold medals and became a 23 (!) time Olympic Champion. It is difficult to even imagine that anyone will even be able to approach such indicators in the near future.
© photo: Sputnik / Alexander Vilf
Michael Phelps (USA), who won the gold medal in the men's 200m medley swimming, at the awards ceremony of the XXXI Summer Olympics.
Americans Katie Ledecky (swimming) and Simone Biles (gymnastics) were just behind Phelps, winning four golds each.
© photo: Sputnik / Alexey Filippov
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt again won three gold medals: 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x100 relay, becoming a nine-time Olympic Champion. At the last three Olympics, Bolt has consistently won these disciplines.
© photo: Sputnik / Konstantin Chalabov
Usain Bolt (Jamaica) after finishing the final 200m race during the men's track and field competition at the XXXI Summer Olympics.
...and "heroes of the Olympics"
The US women's track and field team dropped the baton in the semifinals of the 4x100-meter relay and failed to qualify for the decisive race. The Americans filed an appeal, saying they were interfered with by the Brazilian athletes. The appeal was granted. The US team was allowed to run through the semi-finals in splendid isolation. During the re-run, they showed a better time than their rivals from China, and the latter were “asked” from the final. The appeal of the Asian athletes was not satisfied, and the Americans became Olympic Champions.
Georgian heroes of Rio
If we do not take into account the Georgian athletes who won medals at the Rio Games, then Georgia has other heroes who have won the hearts of fans not only in their homeland, but also in the world.
Canoeist Zaza Nadiradze was incredibly happy when he was able to qualify for the Olympics. I couldn't even dream of more. But Nadiradze performed well in qualifying and reached the semi-finals of the single canoe competition at a distance of 200 meters. In the semi-finals, he finished first, leaving behind the current Olympic Champion, Ukrainian Yuri Cheban, and four-time World and European champion Valentin Demyanenko. But in the finals, nervousness and lack of experience in participating in competitions of this rank took their toll. As a result, Nadiradze took fifth place, but won the hearts of thousands of fans.
© REUTERS / MURAD SEZER
Seoul Olympic Champion (1988) in pistol shooting Nino Salukvadze came to Rio for her eighth Games in her career. A unique achievement among women in this sport. Salukvadze was able to reach the finals of the competition, but in the end she was left without a medal. After completing her performances, she said that she would most likely be preparing for the Olympics in Tokyo - the ninth in a row.
© REUTERS / EDGARD GARRIDO
David Kharazishvili became the first marathon runner in the history of Georgia to win a license for the Olympic Games. The Georgian athlete started well, but at the 25th kilometer he felt a sharp pain in his side. He didn’t run for almost two kilometers, he just walked and even thought about withdrawing from the race. However, he found courage and crossed the finish line. As a result, he took 72nd place, but ended up in the first half of finishers and left 93 athletes behind him.
40 Georgian athletes went to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, which is a record figure. For the first time in the history of independent Georgia, the country was represented in such sports as: women's weightlifting (Anastasia Gottfried), women's judo (Esther Stam), men's shot put (Benik Abrahamyan), women's high jump (Valentina Lyashenko).
Green water Rio
The water in the pool of the Rio de Janeiro aquatics center, where the diving competition was supposed to be held, suddenly turned green, which baffled even the technical staff. It later turned out that this was due to 160 liters of hydrogen peroxide accidentally poured into the pool. The substance neutralized chlorine, which promoted the growth of “organic compounds,” including, possibly, seaweed. Despite the fact that the water did not pose a threat to the health of the athletes, it still had to be replaced.
344 athletes compete for 18 sets of medals: 6 each for men and women in freestyle wrestling and another 6 in men's Greco-Roman wrestling.
The Greco-Roman wrestling tournament became historic for Armenia. The first gold in Rio for this country was brought by Greco-Roman wrestler Artur Aleksanyan - in the final of the match in the up to 98 kg category, he defeated Cuban Yasmani Lugo Cabrera with a score of 3:0.
Representatives of Armenia won Olympic gold exactly 20 years ago at the Olympics in Atlanta. Then the classic wrestler Armen Nazaryan also became a champion.
The Russian team was represented in all weight categories, and the wrestlers brought the country 3 medals - 2 gold and bronze. Greco-Roman style wrestler in the weight up to 75 kg Roman Vlasov brought the first gold medal to the Russian wrestling team and is now a two-time Olympic champion.
Kyrgyzstan was represented at the tournament by 4 Greco-Roman wrestlers. Zhanarbek Kenzheev and Murat Ramonov lost in the first fight.
Ruslan Tsarev, who competed in the weight category up to 66 kg, was defeated by the Algerian in the 1/8 finals with a score of 6:0.
Arsen Eraliev competed in competitions in the weight category up to 59 kg. In the 1/8 finals, the Kyrgyzstani lost to the athlete from Cuba Ismael Borrero Molina, who later became an Olympic champion.
In the fight for 3rd place, Eraliev met with a wrestler from Uzbekistan Elmurat Tasmuradov and lost to him. As a result, the Kyrgyzstani took the final 5th place.
List of tournament winners
On August 14, the wrestling tournament starts at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Russian team will be represented in all 17 weight categories in which licenses were won. This is the maximum figure among all teams...
GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING
Up to 59 kg. Ibragim Labazanov is a two-time Russian champion (2015, 2016). Regions - St. Petersburg and Rostov region
Up to 66 kg. Islam-bek Albiev is an Olympic champion (2008), world champion (2009), two-time European champion (2009, 2016), silver medalist of the World Championship (2013), bronze medalist of the European Championship (2012). Regions - Moscow and the Chechen Republic.
Up to 75 kg. Roman Vlasov is an Olympic champion (2012), two-time world champion (2011, 2015), silver medalist of the World Championship (2013), two-time European champion (2012, 2013), bronze medalist of the European Championship (2011). Region - Novosibirsk.
Up to 85 kg. Davit Chakvetadze is the winner of the European Games (2015), two-time champion of Russia (2015, 2016). Region - Moscow and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Up to 98 kg. Islam Magomedov is the winner of the European Games (2015), bronze medalist of the World Championship (2015), two-time champion of Russia (2015, 2016). Regions - Rostov region and the Chechen Republic.
Up to 130 kg. Sergey Semenov - two-time silver medalist of the World Cup (2015, 2016), champion of Russia (2016). Regions - Moscow and Krasnodar region.
FREESTYLE WRESTLING
Up to 57 kg. Viktor Lebedev is a two-time world champion (2010, 2011), bronze medalist of the 2015 World Championship, winner of the 2015 European Games. Regions - Sakha-Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Up to 65 kg. Soslan Ramonov - 2014 world champion, 2015 world bronze medalist. Regions - Moscow region, North Ossetia-Alania. Club - CSKA.
Up to 74 kg. Aniuar Geduev is a three-time European champion (2013, 2014, 2015), bronze medalist at the 2015 World Championships. Regions - Krasnodar Territory and Kabardino-Balkaria. Club - CSKA
Up to 86 kg. Abdulrashid Sadulayev is a two-time world and European champion (2014, 2015). Regions - Moscow, Dagestan.
Up to 97 kg. Anzor Boltukaev is the 2016 European champion, bronze medalist of the 2013 World Championship. Regions - Chechen Republic, Moscow.
Up to 125 kg. Bilyal Makhov is a three-time world champion (2007, 2009, 2010), bronze medalist of the 2012 Olympics, bronze medalist of the 2015 World Championship in freestyle wrestling. In addition, in Greco-Roman style he became a bronze medalist at the 2014 and 2015 World Championships. Represents Dagestan and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Club - CSKA
WOMEN'S WRESTLING
Up to 48 kg. Milana Dadasheva is the 2015 European champion among juniors. Regions - Dagestan.
Up to 58 kg. Valeria Koblova - European champion 2014, silver at the World Championship 2014. Region - Moscow region and St. Petersburg
Up to 63 kg. Inna Trazhukova is a two-time bronze medalist of the European Championships (2011, 2016). Region - Moscow and Ulyanovsk region.
Up to 69 kg. Natalya Vorobyova - 2012 Olympic champion, 2015 world champion, two-time European champion (2013, 2014). Region - St. Petersburg and Moscow region
Up to 75 kg. Ekaterina Bukina - silver medalist of the 2011 World Championships, silver medalist of the 2015 European Games. Region - Moscow and Irkutsk region.
Sports wrestling is a hand-to-hand combat in which both opponents try to knock each other down and win. Its different types are what has characterized the Olympics since the very year of its foundation, which is considered to be 708 BC. Wrestling was on the program of all games, excluding only those that took place in 1900. In each of its types there are permitted and prohibited techniques. As soon as one of the opponents gains obvious control over the other, the competition is considered over. Wrestling differs from martial arts such as boxing in that opponents practically do not strike each other.
Participants in wrestling games
Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling will definitely be included in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the first type only men compete, in the second - men and women. This sport will have participants from various countries, with a total of 244 athletes.
In Greco-Roman wrestling there are 6 weight categories for men, in freestyle wrestling there are also 6 for men and women. It turns out that a total of 18 sets of medals will be played out.
Greco-Roman wrestling, weight categories for men:
- up to 59 kg;
- up to 66 kg;
- up to 75 kg;
- up to 85 kg;
- up to 98 kg;
- up to 130 kg.
Freestyle struggle, weight categories for men:
- up to 57 kg;
- up to 65 kg;
- up to 74 kg;
- up to 86 kg;
- up to 97 kg;
- up to 125 kg.
Freestyle wrestling, weight categories for women:
- up to 48 kg;
- up to 53 kg;
- up to 58 kg;
- up to 63 kg;
- up to 69 kg;
- up to 75 kg.
The selection of athletes has been carried out since 2015. The concept of a qualifying tournament includes several competitions held in different parts of the world:
World Wrestling Championship 2015;
- Olympic qualification - America;
- Olympic Qualification - Asia;
- Olympic Qualification - Africa and Oceania;
- Olympic Qualification - Europe;
- 1st World Qualifying Tournament;
- 2nd world qualifying tournament.
In the early spring of 2016, it was decided that during the draw for the Summer Olympics, all the finalists of the past World Championships would be in different halves of the schedule grid, so that they could not meet in battle before the final. After all, this sport, there must be intrigue in it.
Wrestling competition calendar
The list of games that will be held in Brazil this summer includes both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. All sports matches will take place from August 14 to August 21.
Each day of the Summer Olympics in the wrestling program is dedicated to several categories of athletes. All stages are completed in one day: competition qualifications, 1/8 finals, semi-finals, quarter-finals, competition finals, repechage matches.
- August 14: Greco-Roman, men. Categories: 59 and 75.
- August 15: Greco-Roman, men. Categories: 85, 130.
- August 16: Greco-Roman, men. Categories: 66, 98.
- August 17: freestyle, women. Categories: 48, 58, 69.
- August 18: freestyle, women. Categories: 53, 63, 75.
- August 19: freestyle, men. Categories: 57, 74.
- August 20: freestyle, men. Categories: 86, 125.
- August 21: freestyle, men. Categories: 65, 97.
There are other types of wrestling that are not included in the program of the Olympic Games.