The upcoming Junior World Championships will take place in Ufa, Russia August 16-22. Junior Worlds has become the premier tournament for the best wrestlers under 20 years old and will be sure to be a preview of future World/Olympic medalists and champions. With the completion of the Olympics, this article will break down which Tokyo Olympians first competed at Junior Worlds and how they performed there.

The Tokyo Medalists

In men’s freestyle, 24 wrestlers took home Olympic medals. Of those 24 medalists, 16 competed at Junior Worlds in the past 15 years. Take a look below to see the breakdown of the Olympic medalists who also how they fared at Junior Worlds (placement at jr worlds in parenthesis)

*DNP = Did not place at Junior Worlds
**DNW = Did not wrestle at Junior Worlds

There are countless conclusions to draw from the above chart. Every wrestler represented above has his own story of progression from the junior level to senios. One thing is clear, a Tokyo Olympian was represented at every junior worlds from 2012-2019. This year's Junior Worlds will almost certainly feature wrestlers who will be competitive at senior worlds before long and take the mat in 2024 at the Paris Olympics.

The Best Junior Worlds Ever

Looking back over the last 15 years of Junior Worlds, a few remarkable years stand out. For instance, in 2013 Tokyo Olympians Zavur Uguev, Kyle Snyder, and Geno Petriashvili all won Junior World gold! 2015 saw both Zaurbek Sidakov and Aaron Pico take bronze at 66kg (they were on opposite sides of the bracket and didn't wrestle). Also, in 2017 Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Artur Naifonov defeated 2X NCAA Champion Zahid Valencia in the finals at 84kg. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now look back on every year of Junior World Championships and find examples of today's stars in incredible matches and brackets at Junior Worlds.

While there are numerous remarkable years in past junior worlds, no year compares to 2014. Of the 94 Tokyo Olympians, 12 of them competed at the 2014 Junior Worlds (most of any year). On top of that, 5 of the Olympic medalists also medaled at those 2014 Junior Worlds. Take a look at the list of those Olympians:

Olympic Medalists at 2014 Jr Worlds:

• Thomas Gilman (USA) - 55kg Bronze
• Gadzhimurad Rashidov (RUS) - 60kg Bronze
• Hassan Yazdani (IRI)  - 66kg Gold
• Kyle Snyder (USA) - 96kg Bronze
• Geno Petriashvili (GEO) - 120kg Gold* (later stripped because of positive PED test)

Other Olympians At 2014 Jr Worlds:

• Abdelhak Kherbache (ALG) - DNP at 55kg
• Reza Atri (IRI) - DNP at 55kg
• Kamil Rybicki (POL) - DNP at 66kg
• Zushen Lin (CHN) - DNP at 74kg
• Stefan Reichmuth (SUI) - DNP at 74kg
• Amar Dhesi (CAN) - 120kg Silver (changed to gold after Petriashvili’s positive test)
• Gennadij Cudinovic (GER) - DNP at 120kg

Total Olympians Who Wrestled in Junior Worlds

61, yes 61 of the 94 Olympians wrestled at Junior Worlds at some point in their career. Of those 61 Olympians who wrestled at junior worlds, 30 of them won medals. While the charts below are massive, they outline the complete list of Olympians who wrestled at Junior Worlds and how they performed there. The enormity of this list further illustrates the depth of talent at the Junior World Championships and how the tournament is often a “first look” at the future stars of international wrestling. 

57kg - 14/16 Olympians

65kg - 7/16 Olympians

74kg - 11/16 Olympians

86kg - 11/16 Olympians

97kg - 7/16 Olympians

125kg - 8/16 Olympians

Some Fun Facts:

• 57kg had the most Olympians (14) and Medalists (9) from Junior Worlds
• 86kg had the most Olympians with Junior World Golds - 3
• Only 4 Olympians competed in 3 Junior Worlds - Georgi Vangelov, Gulomjon Abdullaev, Deepak Punia, and Geno Petriashvili
• Only 6 Olympians won multiple junior world medals - Arsen Harutyunyan, Gadzhimurad Rashidov, Deepak Punia, Kyle Snyder, Reineris Salas, and Geno Petriashvili (17 had numerous attempts)
• David Taylor (50kg to 86kg) and Dzianis Khramiankou (84kg to 125kg) had the largest weight gain from Juniors to Olympics
• Sadulaev and Otoguro were the only Olympic Gold Medalists to not compete at Junior Worlds - they both won Cadet World Championships
• David Taylor is the only Olympic Gold medalist to not win an age-level world medal

This Year In Russia

In this previous article, we explored how just making the team for Americans almost certainly means success at the NCAA level for collegiate wrestlers. You can also check out the roster for Team USA in every style here. Beyond the American success, this year's junior worlds will be a testing ground for all international wrestlers and could be the beginning of stardom for many future world/Olympic medalists or champs.