At the World Championships in Belgrade, our Greco-Roman wrestlers won two bronze medals
Coach of the Ukrainian team in Greco-Roman wrestling Vladimir Shatskikh commented on the results of the recent world championship in Belgrade.
“There is progress, but we did not expect outstanding results this time. It used to happen that we took four medals each [на чемпионатах мира], and there were several finalists, and gold too. And this World Cup cannot be compared with the previous one, because we had the Olympics that year. Someone usually rests after the Games, someone has ended his career altogether. We’re going through a generational change.”
“Yes, and the war has made its own adjustments. All the guys serve, are liable for military service. Not everyone managed to return to the sport. Almost all have not trained for at least a month, and some for four or five. We took the National Guardsmen literally in July, before that they were in their units in rather Spartan conditions, which did not contribute to the result in international competitions. For example, Vladlen Kozlyuk accomplished, one might say, a feat. On moral and strong-willed qualities, in March he won a bronze medal at the European Championship. We brought the guys back to sports condition as best we could, so that we can perform even better. ”
“In such difficult conditions, the guys instantly matured. I see a different attitude to the result. Now they are fighting and winning medals not for themselves, they want to do it for the sake of the country, to emphasize that Ukraine is a strong country not only in war, but also in sports competitions. I thank the military leadership of the country, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all our soldiers who protect the state and give us the opportunity to compete in international competitions in such a difficult time.”
At the 2022 World Championship, the Ukrainian wrestling team won a total of six awards. Two of them were won by Greco-Roman wrestlers: Andrei Kulik (up to 72 kg) and Yaroslav Filchakov (up to 82 kg) won bronze medals in Belgrade.
Source: Sportarena
