It is one thing to become a world champion and another to win gold at the Olympics. Many have perished in their quest for the Olympic glory. But there are a few who have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to climb the top of the podium, place their right hand on the chest and sing their countries national anthem out loud at the grandest competition of all. However, many world champs who are yet to win the elusive Olympic gold have got a new lease of life as the Tokyo Games have been deferred to 2021.
Olympics: Japan to explore ‘simplified’ Games to avoid outright cancellation, reports local media
Let’s have a look at top 10 world champions who are yet to become Olympic champions.
Here is the list:
Adeline Gray:
She is the epitome of the mythical Amazonian warriors. The wonder woman is what Abdulrashid Sadulaev is in men’s wrestling. Dominant, strong, agile are the kind of words to describe her wrestling prowess. She has won every major trophy there is in wrestling but one — The Olympic gold. And with Tokyo Games postponed, The US wrestler has enough time to prepare herself for it. But there is still a teeny-tiny problem. In order to climb to the top, she would have to past through 2012 Olympic champ Nataliya Vorobieva of Russia and 2016 Olympic champ Erica Wiebe of Canada. While Gray has on many occasions over-powered her Canadian counterpart, she is yet to test her skills against the Russian great. Whatever it is, the 76kg women’s wrestling will give fans the run for their money.
Frank Staebler:
Staebler is undoubtedly the greatest wrestler to be ever produced by Germany. He has become world champion thrice in 2015, ’17 and ’18 but has never tasted the Olympic glory. Tokyo Games will be his last shot for the ultimate prize as he will be hanging his boots after it.
Geno Petriashvili:
Men’s freestyle 125kg weight class has been the battleground for two heavyweights — Taha Akhgul and Geno Petriashvili. While the first one has won it all, Petriashvili is yet to become an Olympic champion. In 2016 Rio Games he came close to climb the podium but after losing to Iran’s Khomeil Ghasemi in the quarter-finals, the Georgian had to settle with a bronze medal. Since then, he has become world champion thrice, defeating Turkey’s Akhgul every time.
Zhan Beleniuk:
The Ukrainian wrestler is one of the best to ever set foot on the mat in the middleweight categories. The two-time world champ (2015 and ’19) is now a politician and has set his eyes at the Tokyo Games to win the elusive gold when it arrives in 2021.
Riza Kayaalp:
His 2016 Olympic final against Cuba’s Mijain Lopez is still one of the freshest wrestling bouts in my memory from the time. The Turkey international to everyone’s surprise did not stand a chance against “The Terrible” and eventually losing 6-0. He had to settle for a silver medal. After the Rio Games, while Lopez announced his retirement from wrestling, Kayaalp climbed new heights winning two world champions and bring his tally to a total of four. But now Lopez has announced his comeback to try and win the fourth Olympic gold and becoming the first wrestler to do so. Will Kayaalp be able to take his revenge or will the Cuban create history remains to be seen.
David Taylor:
The US wrestler has had an exponential rise in wrestling since the 2016 Rio Games. He became world champion in 2018 defeating the current 74kgkg division Olympic champ Hassan Yazdani of Iran — he has now moved up into 86kg weight class. However, a ligament injury in the knee kept him out of the Nur-Sultan world championship. Tokyo Games will be his first Olympic competition and he would like to climb the podium to retain the top spot in his weight class.
J’den Cox:
The J’den Cox and Abdulrashid Sadulaev match at the 2016 Rio Olympics is a what would have been if the two met. On one hand, while Sadulaev became the champion in 86kg, Cox had to settle for a bronze. Since then, Cox has moved up into 92kg, a non-olympic weight category and have become world champ twice. In February this year, he announced that he will be moving to 97kg for the Tokyo Games. It means Kyle Snyder will have a new competitor in his weight class for the All-American championship.
Frank Chamizo:
The Italian national is a two-time world champion and one of the biggest hurdle who stands in Jordan Burroughs Olympic gold quest. Chamizo is himself a 2016 Rio Games bronze medallist and at Tokyo would want to change the colour of the medal to gold.
Kyle Dake:
Kyle Dake won his first world championship in 2018 and retained it in 2019. But he is yet to compete at the Olympics let alone winning gold. However, if he manages to win the gold medal, it will be no less than a dream for the US wrestler.
Yasemin Adar:
Just like many of her counterparts, she too has never competed at the Olympics. She is the 2017 World champ and has set her eyes for the Tokyo Games gold when it arrives next year.