The Ukraine Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship , which was tentatively scheduled to be held in Odessa in early October, has been canceled. There are no details about when and where the tournament will take place yet. The wrestlers hope that the championship will take place, and for this reason they do not refuse to train.
The reason for the cancellation is still the same – the coronavirus pandemic . The pandemic in the country is sharply deteriorating, the anti-record for new cases (the mark exceeded 4 thousand per day) of infection has been updated.
The biggest problem is the lack of tournaments and competitive practice. The two-time prize-winner of the youth European championships, Ukrainian classic prospect Vitaliy Andrievich says: “For example, last year there were about 12-14 competitions. And this year their number has decreased to about 3-4. This is the biggest disadvantage. All the wrestlers have lost, primarily in experience.”
In his weight category, the most popular and titled athlete of the country, winner of the Olympic Games-2016 wrestler-deputy Zhan Beleniuk, performs and has already won an Olympic license . Andrievich jokes: “If everything goes well with him in the (Verkhovna Rada), then who knows? Maybe I will go too … For the next cycle, I think we will do everything, prepare well …”
Athlete’s coach Andrei Kalashnikov , winner of the Olympic Games-2006: “It’s harder for the young now than it was for us. This is because the level of struggle has risen very much all over the world. I want to raise a champion. Yes, it’s a lot of work, not everyone can stand it. And those who stand up get chances – they can achieve good results. .. ”