MINSK, 12 August (BelTA) – Belarusian wrestlers won 14 medals at the 49th edition of the freestyle wrestling tournament for the prizes of three-time Olympic champion Aleksandr Medved at Minsk Palace of Sports, BelTA has learned.
Uladzislau Andreyeu (-57kg), Yauheniya Andreichykava (68kg), Vasilisa Marzaliuk (76kg), Iryna Kurachkina (57kg) and Yuliya Pisarenka (59kg) secured gold medals.
Belarus' Niurgun Skriabin (65kg) collected silver after losing to Russia's Islam Dudayev. Bronze went to Turkey's Selim Kozan and Belarus' Georgy Koliyev. Rasul Tikhayev (79kg), Ivan Yankouski (92kg), and Nadzeya Bulanaya (59kg) took silver.
Bronze medals went to Vasily Pavlyuchenko (92kg), Denis Khromenkov (97kg), Antonina Sitkovets (53kg), and Kseniya Stankevich (50kg).
The Minsk tournament served as a rehearsal for Belarusian athletes ahead of the 2019 World Wrestling Championships which is due in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan on 14-22 September.
Competing for Aleksandr Medved prizes were 203 athletes from 14 countries. Belarus was represented by more than 50 athletes.
Aleksandr Medved tournaments have been held in Minsk since 1970. In 1994, following the decision of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA), the tournament was granted the Grand Prix category. The record in the number of participating states (47) was set at its 30th edition in 2000.
Aleksandr Medved won three Olympic gold medals (1964, 1968 and 1972), seven world titles (1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969-1971) and four European titles. Aleksandr Medved was named the greatest freestyle wrestler of the 20th century.
