Will Sadulaev Stay At 97kg?
Will Sadulaev Stay At 97kg?
What weight will Abdulrashid Sadulaev wrestle in 2018? 97kg, 86kg, or 92kg? We investigate!
Almost as soon as the 97kg finals match at the 2017 World Championships between Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Kyle Snyder was over last Saturday in Paris, fans began speculating as to what weight Sadulaev would wrestle at the 2018 Worlds.
Would he stay at 97kg and attempt to avenge his loss to the Mighty Marylander? Or would he drop back down to 86kg, where he has been untouchable since he began wrestling at the senior level? Or, now that UWW has announced it is adding two additional non-Olympic weights starting in 2018, would the Dagestani Tank wrestle at the new 92kg weight class?
Sadulaev himself has not yet weighed in (pun very much intended) on the topic. He is currently completing the Hajj (as are a couple other Russian world champions), and it may be some time before we hear from him directly.
But thanks to Google Translate, we can read what a few coaches and notable Russian wrestling figures have to say about Sadulaev's future weight.
During his post-Paris rundown, Russian men's freestyle head coach Dzhambulat Tedeev argued that Sadulaev had not yet grown accustomed to 97kg. Though Tedeev appears to accept that nothing is set in stone, he seems to suggest that Sadulaev should drop to 92kg for the 2018 and 2019 World Championships and then cut back down to 86kg for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Russian and Soviet living legend Arsen Fadzaev also shared his opinion regarding Sadulaev's weight recently. Fadzayev is a two-time Olympic champ and six-time world champion and appears to agree with Tedeev, suggesting that Sadulaev would be better served at a lower weight.
Fadzaev won eight world gold medals at 68kg from 1983 to 1992. His one silver medal was when he bumped up to 74kg in 1989 and lost to American Kenny Monday.
Finally, Sadulaev's personal coach, Shamil Omarov, responded to the question in an interview following the Paris tournament. Contrary to Tedeev and Fadzaev, Omarov seems adamant that Sadulaev must stay at 97kg and avenge his loss to Captain America.
We probably won't know anything for sure until the next time Sadulaev straps up at either the Russian Nationals or the 2018 World Championship in Hungary next October. Until then, the speculating will keep international wrestling fans occupied as we await Sadulaev's next super match of the century (of the year).
Would he stay at 97kg and attempt to avenge his loss to the Mighty Marylander? Or would he drop back down to 86kg, where he has been untouchable since he began wrestling at the senior level? Or, now that UWW has announced it is adding two additional non-Olympic weights starting in 2018, would the Dagestani Tank wrestle at the new 92kg weight class?
Sadulaev himself has not yet weighed in (pun very much intended) on the topic. He is currently completing the Hajj (as are a couple other Russian world champions), and it may be some time before we hear from him directly.
But thanks to Google Translate, we can read what a few coaches and notable Russian wrestling figures have to say about Sadulaev's future weight.
During his post-Paris rundown, Russian men's freestyle head coach Dzhambulat Tedeev argued that Sadulaev had not yet grown accustomed to 97kg. Though Tedeev appears to accept that nothing is set in stone, he seems to suggest that Sadulaev should drop to 92kg for the 2018 and 2019 World Championships and then cut back down to 86kg for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Sadulayev year will compete in weight to 92kg, and then is at home to 86kg.
Russian and Soviet living legend Arsen Fadzaev also shared his opinion regarding Sadulaev's weight recently. Fadzayev is a two-time Olympic champ and six-time world champion and appears to agree with Tedeev, suggesting that Sadulaev would be better served at a lower weight.
I would in his place return to the former weight category. But he knows better. Nevertheless, Sadulaev is one of the best wrestlers of today, and he can correct the situation if he returns to the category of 86kg.
Fadzaev won eight world gold medals at 68kg from 1983 to 1992. His one silver medal was when he bumped up to 74kg in 1989 and lost to American Kenny Monday.
Finally, Sadulaev's personal coach, Shamil Omarov, responded to the question in an interview following the Paris tournament. Contrary to Tedeev and Fadzaev, Omarov seems adamant that Sadulaev must stay at 97kg and avenge his loss to Captain America.
We do not think to return to the previous weight. We do not want to leave this negative in the description of Sadulaev. We will strengthen to 97kg and try to recoup the next world championship.
We probably won't know anything for sure until the next time Sadulaev straps up at either the Russian Nationals or the 2018 World Championship in Hungary next October. Until then, the speculating will keep international wrestling fans occupied as we await Sadulaev's next super match of the century (of the year).