We continue to look at all weight categories of the Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling. Now we will look at the weight category up to 97kg.
We will not see the current Olympic champion Musa Evloev in Paris due to IOC bans. In his place, they were allowed to send the current European vice-champion, Magomed Murtazaliev.
One of the legendary Greco-Roman wrestlers, four-time world champion, seven-time European champion and Olympic champion, Artur Aleksanyan, will participate in this weight class. He is the main favorite at the Olympic Games in this weight category.
Arthur ALEKSANYAN (Armenia) - Needs no introduction. He is a four-time world champion, seven-time European champion and Olympic champion. For more than 10 years it has confidently dominated the international arena. He is already 32 years old, and perhaps these Olympic Games will be his last. Despite his age, he continues to show a high level of preparation. In the final of last year's World Championship he lost to Gabriel Rosillo literally in the last seconds, but at the Olympic Games we will see a different Arthur.
Gabriel Rozillo (Cuba) is a 25-year-old athlete who literally blew up the world by becoming world champion, beating Artur Aleksanyan himself in the last seconds of the fight. This is a significant event in Gabriel's life, and after it he is seriously preparing for the Olympic Games. Before his triumph at the World Championships, Gabriel had been absent from the mat since 2020, following his defeat at the Tokyo Olympics. Now he is back and has earned his status as the favorite to win the Olympic gold medal. However, it is important to understand that triumph alone does not solve anything. Maybe in Paris we will see a completely different person who will be eliminated in the early stages of the tournament. Many of his opponents will study his style and develop countermeasures to his basic techniques. We will see all this very soon.
Mohammadhadi SARAVI (Iran) - Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, world champion and two-time Asian champion - the Iranian wrestler has become one of the main favorites. After victories at the Asian Championships and the last tournament in Hungary, Mohammad confirmed his status as the favorite and now heads to Paris as a potential medalist.
97 kg
Gabriel Rosillo (Cuba) - World Champion
Arthur ALEXANYAN (Armenia) - Four-time world champion, seven-time European champion and Olympic champion
Mohammadhadi SARAWI (Iran) - Bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, world champion and two-time Asian champion.
Artur OMAROV (Czech Republic) - Bronze medalist of the World and European Championships
Abubakar KHASLAKHANOV (AIN, Belarus) - Bronze medalist of the European Championship
Magomed Murtazaliev (AIN, Russia) - Vice European Champion
Kevin MEJIA (Honduras)
Alan VERA GARCIA (USA)
Fadi RUABA (Algeria)
Mohamed GABR (Egypt)
Roberti KOBLIASHVILI (Georgia)
Mindaugas VENZKAITIS (Lithuania)
Rustam ASSAKALOV (Uzbekistan)
Seungjun KIM (Korea)
Arvi SAVOLAINEN (Finland)
Uzur JUZUPBEKOV (Kyrgyzstan)
