In a bid to book Tokyo Olympic berth, two former Olympic medallists have thrown their hat in the fray announcing their return to the international scene. The two wrestlers will be competing in the European Olympic Qualifiers for their respective countries at Budapest.
While the 2012 London Games gold medallist- Toghrul Asgarov will be returning on the mat for Azerbaijan, Khadzhimurat Gatsalov will make an appearance under his new wrestling country Armenia.
Toghrul Asgarov’s return for Azerbaijan:
Toghrul will replace Khadzimurad Gadzhiev as Azerbaijan’s official entry in the 74kg freestyle for the upcoming qualifiers in Budapest, Hungary.
The former World Champion has been absent from major competitions due to a series of injuries. His last major tournament was the 2016 Olympics where he lost to Russia’s Soslan Ramonov in the 65kg finals.
Now, with Olympic Qualifiers, the Azeri will mark his return to the mat at the international scene.
The decision to include Asgarov over Gadzhiev was taken after the latter failed to qualify Azerbaijan for the Olympic Games in Nur-Sultan. Gadzhiev finished seventh in 2019 World Championships. The youngster was Azerbaijan’s first-choice at the 2018 and ’19 European Championships, where he finished fifth and tenth, respectively.
This would be the first time, Asgarov will be featuring in the 74kg category and would like to announce his return with an Olympic berth. Asgarov is a two-time European Champion (2012 and ‘14 ), and World Champion in 2011.
Khadzhimurat Gatsalov to return to the mat under a new flag:
Russia is the heavyweight in the wrestling circuit. The Soviet nation has produced many greats and has been a force to reckon with. Known as the wrestling nation, Russian domestic circuit is very competitive. Due to this many good wrestlers despite the skills and prowess of wrestling are not able to make it into the Russian team. This forces many players to change their sporting nationality to play at the Olympics and other world events.
One such wrestler is Khadzimurat Gatsalov. The 2004 Athens Olympic gold medallist will be marking his return to the mat under Armenian flag instead of Russian emblem.
The reason to change his wrestling nationality is due to Abdulrashid Sadulaev in the 97kg category.
Gatsalov will be competing for the first time since 2016 and will be Armenia’s official entry for the 97kg Freestyle at the European Qualifiers
In order to get Armenia qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, the former Russian giant will need to finish in top-two.
The 38-year-old last fought in the 2016 Poland Open where he finished fifth.
Gatsalov has won the European Championships three times (2003, ’04 and ’06) and bronze medallist twice in 2005 and ’08. He is also a four-time World champion.
The European Olympic Qualifiers will be held in Budapest, Hungary from March 19-22.
