Two Russian expatriates made headlines in Mongolia at the World Olympic Games Qualifier. Adam Batirov and Georgi Ketoev both qualified for the 2016 Games in Rio. The appearance will mark Batirov’s first Olympic experience and Ketoev's second after earning a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008.

Adam has been in the shadow of his older brother, Mavlet, his entire career. A two-time Olympic champion, Mavlet moved up weights throughout his career and incidentally kept his younger brother from breaking through in his prime. Adam also had to deal with all-time great Besik Kudukhov after moving to 60kg for Russia following the 2008 Olympic Games.

A junior world silver medalist in 2003, Adam only had opportunities at European championships until 2011. That year, the Batirov brothers both made their way to the championship final at Russian Nationals. After some reprimand for the way the first two periods were wrestled, a less obviously fixed version of the bout allowed Adam to to come out victorious. Adam represented Russia at the 2011 World Championships, but failed to earn a medal. He was defeated in the quarterfinal by eventual champion Medhi Taghavi of Iran and in the bronze medal bout by Livan Lopez of Cuba.


Adam is no longer representing Russia on the wrestling mats. He obtained citizenship in the small island country of the Kingdom of Bahrain, which is located in the Persian Gulf and qualifies for the Olympic Games through the Asian Continental Qualifier.

This year, he participated in both the continental championship and the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier. He earned a gold medal at the championships up at the non-Olympic weight of 70kg, and defeated Vinod Kumar of India for the championship.

At the Asian Olympic Games Qualifier, Adam came up short of qualifying at 65kg. The finalists in each continental qualifier earn a berth for the country they represent. Adam was defeated by China’s Katal Yeerlenbieke in the championship semifinal, 6-1.


After coming up short at the Asian qualifier, Adam showed up in Mongolia seeking Bahrain’s first-ever wrestling qualification. In a loaded field at 65kg, Adam won his semifinal over two-time world medalist Yakup Gor of Turkey to secure his qualification spot. He finished off his gold medal run by defeating Zurabi Iakobishvili of Georgia in the final.



It's a win-win situation—Bahrain has never sent a wrestler to the Olympic Games, and Adam is finally getting his shot after being buried in the depth chart in Russia. Count the fans in the win tally as well; they get to watch another great wrestler on the biggest platform the sport has to offer.

Will Adam bring home a medal? Probably not, but plenty of fans are excited to watch him try. Take a look at what Adam was able to do back in 2012 to upset Soslan Ramonov. The controversial win probably means very little four years later, but Ramona is one of the favorites to represent Russia in Rio.


Adam is chasing the dream that never materialized. You can’t say the same for Ketoev, who represents Armenia. A world champion in 2007 when he took the weight class over from Sazhid Sazhidov, Ketoev also won a junior world championship in 2005.


But the ultimate dream in wrestling is an Olympic gold medal. That didn’t happen for Ketoev in 2008 as he was defeated in the Olympic semifinal by Georgia’s Revaz Mindorashvili. After Ketoev earned the bronze medal, he put his days at 84kg behind him and made the move up in weight to 96kg.

He was successful in his new weight class, but never earned the right to represent Russia at the world championships. Khadshimourad Gatsalov earned gold and silver medals for Russia in 2009 and 2010, respectively, before failing to medal in 2011. At that point, Abdusalam Gadisov took over the weight class for the 2012 Olympic Games. He went on to win a world title in 2014 and a silver medal in 2015. In 2013, Anzor Boltukaev represented Russia and earned bronze at the world championships. Ketoev’s best credential through this time period was a silver medal at the 2009 European Championships.

In 2010, FloWrestling was on site as Ketoev made the semifinals at Russian Nationals. He dropped the bout to Arslanbek Aliev, and Gatsalov was the representative at the world championships that year.


Ketoev made the same type of move as Adam when he headed to Armenia to get away from the log jam Russia had at his weight class. Ketoev’s last international competition representing Russia was the Ivan Yarygin in January of 2013.

Absent from the freestyle scene, Ketoev reemerged this past weekend in Mongolia. Ketoev’s physique looked a little softer than when we last saw him, but the man can wrestle. Trailing 3-0 to Magomed Ibragimov, another Russian expatriate, he was able to find a four-point feet to win the match 4-3.

He earned a spot back into the Olympic Games eight years after earning bronze in Beijing. Ketoev could factor in for a medal in Rio. He will be aided by the fact that Russia currently holds three of the top four spots in the international freestyle rankings and can only send one representative. Yes, the three men (Gatsalov, Gadisov, Boltukaev) that were standing in Ketoev’s way his last few years in Russia will be battling for one spot on the Russian team. If healthy, another favorite will be Reza Yazdani of Iran. You can watch Ketoev get the better of Yazdani the whole way back in 2007 down at 84kg.


The Soviet/Russian depth has been something world-medal-caliber guys have had to deal with for years, so both Ketoev and Adam took their owns road to Rio. Keep an eye on these two when the 2016 Games are finally upon us in August.