Recent weeks have been nothing but poor news for Russian wrestlers. Despite being one of the strongest nations in terms of wrestling, several Russian stars have been handed a ban by the IOC, deeming them “ineligible” for the Paris Olympics. Understandably, the wrestlers being ostracized for the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has raised quite a few eyebrows. However, it seems like coming to terms with the facts is the only way forward for the Russians.
Only days ago, the prospect of seeing Kamal Bey making it to the upcoming Games thanks to the IOC’s ruling sent a wave of glee across the USA. However, from the looks of things, the Russians are also hanging in there despite the piercing blow to the guts.
As the current European war continues to engulf all facets of life, it is also coming up with unprecedented shockers for many athletes. Several Russian and Belarussian wrestlers being banned from partaking in the Paris Olympics is the latest incident in the list that has taken the community by surprise. And yet, Abdulrashid Sadulaev seems to be in good spirits, as shown by his latest Instagram story. The two-time freestyle wrestling world champion recently met up with his national teammate Zaur Uguev, who was also denied the chance to defend his 2020 Tokyo gold.
Sadulaev, who competes in the 97kg weight bracket, was recently spotted having dinner with Uguev and Makhach Murtazaliev, another Olympic medalist and two-time world champion wrestler. From the looks of it, the confluence brought some much-needed relief from the ongoing cacophony. “Guseinovich says, there are 10 World Championship gold medals on the table!” reads the caption of Abdulrashid’s post, possibly referring to some joke made by Magomed Guseinovich Kurbanov.
While the three wrestlers boast only 9 World Championship gold medals to their name, their national colleague’s exaggeration could be taken with a pinch of salt!