International freestyle and feminine wrestling tournament for Alexandre Medved’s prizes is to take place in Minsk

Today, February 17, a press conference devoted to the 46th International Grand Prix freestyle and feminine wrestling tournament for the prizes of the three-time Olympic champion, Alexandre Medved, was held at the headquarters of the National Olympic Committee.

The participants of the conference:
- Three-time Olympic Champion Alexandre Medved;
- Deputy Chairman at the public association “Belarusian Wrestling Federation” Victor Kreydich;
- Head coach of the Belarus freestyle wrestling national team Alexander Lasitsa;
- Head coach of the Belarus feminine wrestling national team Oleg Reichlin;
- Principal of Belarusian State University of Physical Culture Gregory Kosyachenko;
- Head coach of the Iran team Rasoul Khadem;
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Belarus Mohammad Reza Saburi.

International freestyle and feminine wrestling tournament for Alexandre Medved’s prizes is to take place on February 18 and February 19 at Minsk Sports Palace at Pobeditelej 4.

Representatives of 26 countries (more than 250 athletes) are to take part in the tournament.

Wrestling fans will see athletes from Azerbaijan, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Guinea, Germany, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Italy, Iran, Spain, Kazakhstan, Cameroon, Congo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Senegal, the United States, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Ukraine and Chile.

Top athletes from many countries will take part in the tournament.

Wrestlers of both genders will compete in eight weight categories. 

Competition schedule:

February 18 (Thursday)
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. - preliminary competition, consolation, semifinals (women 48, 55, 60, 69 kg, men 57, 65, 74, 97 kg)
5 p.m. -6 p.m. – the Opening Ceremony
6 p.m. – 8.30 p.m. –finals, medal ceremony (women 48, 55, 60, 69 kg, men 57, 65, 74, 97 kg)

February 19 (Friday)
9 a.m. – 2 p.m. - preliminary competition, consolation, semifinals (women 53, 58, 63, 75 kg, men 61, 70, 86, 125 kg)
3.30p.m. – 7 p.m. – finals, medal ceremony (women 53, 58, 63, 75 kg, men 61, 70, 86, 125 kg).
Free entrance.

Tournaments for Alexandre Medved’s prizes were first held in Minsk in 1970. In 1994 by the decision of the International Wrestling Federation, the tournament became Grand Prix tournament.

At the same time, a freestyle wrestling youth tournament “Medvezhonok” will take place in Minsk on February 18 and February 19.

The tournament will be held at Minsk Olympic Reserve School of Wrestling named after A.V.Medved (str. Kalinowski, 55)

More than 300 young athletes from Belarus and other countries will compete in the tournament.

The opening ceremony of the competition, in which Alexandre Medved is to take part, will be held on February 18. The ceremony starts at 2 p.m.

Competition in pahlavani (Iranian wrestling) will take place at Sports Palace as part of the freestyle wrestling tournament.

On February 19, the competition will be held in two weight categories (up to 70 kg and over 90 kg).

Preliminary competition is from 2p.m. to 4.30p.m.

The finals start at 5p.m. (in turns with freestyle wrestling finals).

In addition, during the press conference, Alexandre Medved and Rasoul Khadem signed a cooperation agreement between the federations of Belarus and Iran.

Translated by Alexandra Korytko, the student of the 4th year of Interpreting and Translation’s school, MSLU