Pan-American Olympic Qualifiers is the ‘last-qualifier standing’ in a time when novel Coronavirus has forced United World Wrestling (UWW) to postpone the European, Asian and African Qualifiers. The Pan-Am is slated to be held in Ottawa, Canada from March 13-15. The qualification tournament will feature 18 Olympic weight categories spread across three disciplines – Greco, Freestyle and Women.
Pan-Am nations may only enter wrestlers at weights in which they are yet to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. All the athletes must finish in the top two in their respective weight categories to register a berth at the Summer Games.
Nations who fail to qualify will still have one last chance at the World Olympic Qualifiers which will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria. The dates, however, are yet to be announced after UWW announced its deferment due to the global pandemic.
The United States will be sending 14 athletes across all three styles to Ottawa. They have already qualified in four weights – 74kg and 97kg in Men Freestyle and 68kg and 76kg in Women Freestyle.
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Men’s Greco-Roman:
Only Cuba has a confirmed place in the Tokyo Olympics Greco-Roman competition amongst the Pan-Am nations. They have qualified in 67kg and 130kg, courtesy of Ismael Borrero’s gold and Oscar’s silver medal finish. Now, they will be eyeing to confirm their place in the other four categories.
Other nations such as the USA and Canada would, however, will be bidding their chances in all the six weights – 60kg, 67kg, 77kg, 87kg, 97kg, and 130kg.
The Qualification round and repechage for Greco will be played on March 13. In the second half of the day, the finals will be conducted.
Women’s Freestyle:
In this style, only USA have booked two Olympic berths amongst all the Pan-Am nations. They have confirmed their place 68kg and 76kg due to Tamyra Mensah and Adelina Gray’s medal-winning performance at the World Championship in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan.
The Qualification round and repechage for Greco will be played on March 14. The finals will be conducted in the evening on the same day.
Men’s Freestyle:
The United States will not be sending any contender in the 74kg and 97kg weight classes as Jordan Burroughs and Kyle Snyder have respectively booked a Tokyo berth for them. It means the USA will only be contesting the remaining four categories – 57kg, 65kg, 86kg and 125kg.
Colombia has also already qualified in the 86kg, courtesy of Carlos Izquierdo’s fifth-place finish.
One of the most interesting weight class would, however, be 125kg. Cuba’s Oscar Pino Hinds will be bidding for qualification after securing a place for his country in 130kg Greco at 2019 World Championships.
The men’s freestyle will be held on the final day (March 15) of the qualifiers. The process followed would be the same, first half of the day will host the qualification rounds and repechage while the second-half will conduct the finals.
