Ukraine’s wrestler and politician Zhan Beleniuk is the current 87kg Greco Roman division world champion. Owing to his performance in Nur-Sultan he has also booked the Tokyo Olympics berth for his country. Besides this, he is also a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from the pro-presidential party “Servant of the People”. He is also amongst the highest-earning wrestlers in the world. According to a report by Wrestling Ukrain citing various media reports, Beleniuk’s total annual income in 2019 amounted to 1.3 mn hryvnias (approximately Rs 36.5 lakh). He is 2016 Olympic silver medallist and four-time world medallist including two gold, one silver and one bronze. Apart from this, he has also won European titles thrice.
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Currently, Beleniuk is training hard to retain his position in the Ukraine Olympic team which is now threatened by European champ Semyon Novikov. Beleniuk says,”“Firstly, you need to understand when the Olympic Games will be held. Now they say that there is a possibility that they won’t be able to do this next year. Therefore, I think that the selection criteria will be known closer to the date and I think everything will be I hope that Ukraine will adequately perform in Tokyo in 2021. Now there’s just nothing to talk about, because everyone hoped that the Olympics will be held this year. But it’s not known how the selection will be held now. But I’m getting ready “.
With the Olympics still a year away, fans will have to wait before they know who will represent Ukraine in 87kg weight class.