USA’s Olympic Quota in Jeopardy as Greco-Roman Wrestling Team Continues Their Abysmal Performances at World Championships

When the American wrestling team first set out for Belgrade, they were confident of dominating the world championships. The team had former world champions and Olympians to boast of and had been performing well in recent competitions. However, they had not imagined such tough competition from the rival countries and left the Stark Arena with three huge losses on the second day of the Greco-Roman wrestling events.

After yesterday’s dismal results, the USA wrestling team was hoping for a miraculous turnaround in their performance. They had three strong contenders in the form of Ildar Hafizov, Josef Rau, and Patrick Smith. Both Smith and Rau inspired hope by winning their opening rounds, but what followed for the duo was totally outside the ordinary.

Losses for the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team continues

The USA Wrestling team wanted to show a dominant performance at the World Championships and place at least one player in each Olympic weight class contention. They were in for another rude awakening when all three contenders for the 60 kg, 72 kg, and 97 kg lost their individual rounds. The USA Wrestling announced the results of the abysmal performance of their Greco-Roman wrestlers on Twitter with three pictures and a post that read, “Greco-Roman group two results from Friday at the World Championships”. The pictures depicted Ildar Hafizov, Josef Rau, and Patrick Smith battle-worn but still in a strong pose. Their disappointing results were written right next to each of their photographs.

Hafizov looked especially dejected after his unfortunate fall to Mehdi Mohsen Nejad. The Iranian multi-time world medalist did not want to give any scope to the American athlete to mount a successful comeback after a deep underhook left him exposed and vulnerable. However, Hafizov was no stranger to this move, and he reciprocated with an overhook. Nejad took a step back and howled in pain, complaining of a foul punch, but the referee didn’t respond.

When the fight resumed, the Iranian ace landed three gut wrenches, taking advantage of Hafizov going into par terre. In period two of the match, the American wrestler launched a series of attacks for the 60 kg bid, but Nejad countered him and took the win with 7-0. Later that day, Josef Rau and Patrick Smith would see similar results in their individual matches.

Rau and Smith face disappointment

Josef Rau had the rotten luck of facing Armenian world and Olympic champion Artur Aleksanyan. But the American pro did not roll over easily. In fact, he was the instigator and dug at the wrestling champion’s side with powerful jabs. But experience prevailed in the ring as Aleksanyan countered his gut-wrench and flipped him the required number of times for the win. Now, he has another chance of winning the Olympic berth in the 97 kg in the repechage round. Finally, it was Patrick Smith’s turn who was feeling happy after his first victory against Poland’s Kamil Czarnecki.

Read More: USA’s 25-Year-Old Greco-Roman Wrestler’s Shot at Glory in the World Wrestling Championship Hinges on Azerbaijan Counterpart

He could not stay happy for long as his next opponent from Russia threw him out of contention for the 72 kg weight category. Smith was acing the hand fight, but like so many times before, passivity played a factor in his loss. Magomedov placed two gutwrenches and took the lead with 5-1, which he maintained till the end.

Now, Josef Rau has kept the hope of the team alive by advancing to the repechage. All things considered, the USA wrestling team is moving towards a limited representation in the Paris Olympics.

Watch This Story: I Recently Lost My Father”: 4x Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler Makes an Emotional Announcement for Bodybuilding World