Friendship has won
For the first time, along with the traditional tournament in weight categories among men and women, was held the World Mas-Wrestling Championship in the absolute category.
The faraway continent always remained out of sight of specialists - organizers of international mas-wrestling events and long time trying to seek attention. As a rule, the above-mentioned resonant festival was included in the IMWF Calendar plan due to its name and its role in popularizing mas-wrestling on the continent. From the side of the supervising organization, only a few went there from time to time and the first tournaments gathered random people, i mean passersby. That is why this year special attention was paid to this continent and in gratitude for the long-term cooperation. Comparably to the previous years, the competitions were held with a completely different intensity.
In lightweight up to 70 kg, the winner became a Yakutian - Vladimir Burnashev, now living in Mexico. He came to the “gold” of the tournament through the stubborn resistance of Brazilian athletes and was incredibly happy to see fellow countrymen, among whom was his own uncle, none other than the head coach of the Russian national team Nikolai Konstantinov.
In the category up to 80 kg, the local athlete Rafael Carvalho became the best. Many thanks to Ricardo Gaevart Nort from Florianopolis, who brought very good, trained fighters and they demonstrated various wrestling techniques on the mas-wrestling platform. Even the experienced Oliver Kurek from Slovakia, who performed this time in an unusual weight category up to 90 kg faced with them. Eric Campus Martins, who beat him, became the winner in this weight.
In the heavy category up to 105 kg was Gabriel Dagostin, also a student of Nort, a promising athlete, strongly attached to mas-wrestling. Even after the competition, he did not stop pestering stronger foreign friends with a desire to fight with them and at the same time gain invaluable experience.
Let's smoothly run into the Absolute Championship. Is it a mistake to hold such an important competition at such a distance from all IMWF member countries? Yes and No. On the one hand, the financial costs are high. Moreover, visa restrictions greatly affect the number of participants. But… You should have seen the eyes of the local guys. The level of athletes simply amazed the local public. Definitely worth arranging such meetings in hard-to-reach countries. They are also part of the larger world. Our common goal is to cover more and more territories with mas-wrestling if we want to rise to the desired heights on the world sports arena.
The most difficult conditions of all athletes, without exception, who crossed the ocean and time zones, did not affect the level of competition. The huge platform in the center of the hall of the Expocentre Norte in Sao Paulo literally shook when huge giants from different countries met. Russian athletes challenged and reaffirmed the highest level of training in mas-wrestling.
Honored Master of Sports of Russia in Mas-Wrestling Ivan Galkin became the absolute world champion. Behind him is, one might say, his idol Viktor Kolibabchuk, who was pretty exhausted by the Togolese Abdulkhakim Ikoudjor at the very first fight. He became the third together with the famous Ricardo Nort.
Among women, as expected, the current absolute world champion Tatyana Baisheva and the strongest world star in the world of strongmen Jana Vaskova met in the final. At the same time, no one could predict the outcome of the fight. The chances of winning were equal. But it seems that Tatyana's motivation was stronger. The legendary Yakut madjyny Anatoly Baishev, admonishing his daughter, ordered to return only with a victory. What she did with success, defeating the Slovak athlete with a devastating score of 2:0.
By the way, our Jana celebrated her 29th birthday the day before and received numerous congratulations from her friends. The young and very ambitious Vaskova did not openly show her disappointment and expressed a desire to meet in the future. By the way, the Slovak Mas-Wrestling Association is holding a big Mas-Wrestling Championship on June 3 under the sponsorship of Double Red, which is open and invites everyone to participate.
Champions back home "with a shield" in the literal sense. Designer Diana Baisheva created a unique product - instead of the traditional belt of the winner, a leather shield in the form of a choron - a symbol of hospitality of the Yakut people. All winners received diamonds and silver items.
International Federation appreciation to its partner:
- JSC Komdragmetal RS (Y);
- JSC “AK “Railways of Yakutia”;
- PJSC Yakutskenergo;
- OOO Prospecting artel "Gold of Ynykchan";
- Advertising and printing center "Offset".
Well, we consider the first calendar event of the International Mas-Wrestling Federation to be held successfully in the proposed circumstances, taking into account the global political crisis. There is still a lot to come. The main thing that we learned today is the understanding that we are together no matter what. Athletes, despite the obvious advantageous position in the final medal layout without the participation of leaders, clearly expressed their desire to wait for their opponents from Russia and Gogo, who were late for objective reasons, so that the fights would take place in fair bouts. Moments like these hold our ranks together stronger than cement and inspire us on our way forward.
