Serving in the armed forces is an honourable job. While some countries like South Korea, Russia and China have a provision of mandatory military service, nations such as India and the USA have voluntary military service. Serving in the defence helps the athletes have a secondary future outside the sporting arena. The military gives them better facilities to train, good food and better coaching to help the wrestlers grow multi-folds. It also sometimes provides them with a permanent commission like in India, which helps them have a secured future.
Here are some wrestlers who also serve in the military:
Viktor and Tamas Lorincz (Hungary):
Tamas and Viktor are brothers and volunteer soldiers in the Sports Squadron of the Hungarian Army. While Tamas is Chief Sergeant, Viktor is Staff Sergeant in the army.
Tamas is the elder of the two brothers. The 33-year-old is the 2019 World Champion in 77kg weight class and has booked a place at Tokyo Games. Viktor, on the other hand, is 30 and is 2019 Worlds silver medallist in 87kg weight category.
R?za Kayaalp (Turkey):
Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp has already completed his military service. He played at the World Military Games in 2019 and won a gold in 130kg Greco Roman category. The grappler is the four-time world champ and has booked the Tokyo Olympic berth.
Natalia Vorobyeva (Russia):
The 2012 London Olympic gold medallist was part of the Russian military last year. She even represents the Soviet country at the World Military Games. The competition was held in Wuhan, China where she won a gold medal in 76kg women’s wrestling.
Taha Akgul (Turkey):
He and Kayaalp served in the Turkish army at the same time. The World Military Games was his last tournament where he became the champion in 125kg Men’s freestyle. Since then he has not competed in any competition due to a shoulder injury.
Yadollah Mohebi (Iran):
Yadollah Mohebi is a freestyle wrestler who competes for Iran. His last victories are the Asian Championships 2019 and the Asian Championships 2017 in men’s 125 kg.
Sandeep Tomar (India):
He is serving in the Indian Navy. Sandeep is the gold medallist in 2014 World Military Championship in 57kg. He is also the champion in 2016 Commonwealth Games.
Whitney Conder (USA):
She joined the U.S Army as part of the World Class Athlete Program and served with the Military police. She is two-time gold medallist at Pan American Championships. Besides this, she also has been a five-time national champion and a silver medallist at the World Military Games.