FILA ANNOUNCES FINAL STANDINGS AT EACH WEIGHT CLASS FOR FREESTYLE OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION EVENT SERIES; USA QUALIFIES AT 54 KG AND 97 KG, AND WILL SEND FULL TEAMFILA, the international wrestling federation, has posted the final standings in each weight class for the Freestyle Olympic Qualifying event series.
Seven additional nations have qualified in each of the eight international weight classes for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. A total of 56 positions in the freestyle competition at the Olympic Games were determined through this series of events.
Five Freestyle Olympic Qualifying events were held: Minsk, Belarus; Leipzig, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; Queretaro, Mexico and Alexandria, Egypt.
Athletes scored points for their nation at each event, based upon their placing at the weight class. After the five events were concluded, the top three placements at the weight class were totalled.
To review the exact point scoring breakdown at each weight class, including the points scored at each qualifying tournament, visit the FILA web page at http://www.fila-wrestling.org
Through the Qualification Tournaments, the United States qualified to compete at the 54 kg/119 pound weight class and the 97 kg/213.75 lbs. weight class.
In the final standings at 54 kg, the USA placed fifth among all nations in the qualifying series, with 39 points.
In the final standings at 97 kg, the USA placed third among all nations in the qualifying series, with 47 points.
With the addition of these two weight classes, the United States has now qualified to compete in all eight weight classes in freestyle at the Olympic Games. The United States is one of three nations to have already qualified full eight-athlete teams, along with Russia and Ukraine.
The third and final qualifying phase for the 2000 Olympic Games are the Continental Championships, scheduled for April and May of 2000. Only the top non-qualifying nation at each weight class from the Continental Championships will qualify for the Olympic Games.
The USA is eligible to participate in the Pan American Championships in Medellin, Colombia, May 19-24. This is the Continental Championships for nations in North, Central and South America. However, as the United States has already qualified at all eight weight classes, this event will have no qualification importance for the U.S. team.
The Olympic Games wrestling competition is not an open tournament. The International Olympic Committee has set a fixed number of participants for wrestling at the Olympic Games. The nations which provide wrestlers for the Olympic Games must go through a qualification process.
The approved total number of wrestling participants for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia is 320, with 160 Greco-Roman athletes and 160 freestyle athletes.
The first phase of Olympic qualifying occurred during the 1999 World Championships in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, where the top eight nations at each weight class qualified athletes for the 2000 Olympic Games. At the 1999 World Championships, the United States qualified athletes at six weight classes in freestyle wrestling and two weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling.
FREESTYLE OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION SERIES
Top seven nations at each weight qualify for Olympic Games
Final National rankings
54 kg/119 lbs. - 1. Kyrgyzstan, 51 pts.; 2. Belarus, 49 pts.; 3. Japan, 49 pts.; 4. Azerbaijan, 46 pts.; 5. United States, 39 pts.; 6. Germany. 39 pts.; 7. Moldova, 38 pts.; 8. China, 37 pts.; 9. Greece, 37 pts.; 10. France, 31 pts.; 11. India, 31 pts.; 12. Canada, 28 pts.; 13. Turkey, 27 pts.; 14. Switzerland, 23 pts.; 15. Macedonia, 20 pts.; 16. Georgia, 20 pts.; 17. Egypt, 18 pts.; 18. Great Britain, 18 pts.; 19. Armenia, 15 pts.; 20. Spain, 8 pts.; 21. Syria, 7 pts.; 22. Venezuela, 3 pts.; 23. Tunisia, 2 pts.; 24. Taipei, 2 pts.; 25. Slovakia, 2 pts.; 26. Mexico, 1 pt.; 27. Indonesia, 1 pt.; 28. Guinea-Bissau, 1 pt.; 29. Hungary, 1 pt.
58 kg/127.75 lbs. - 1. Mongolia, 57 pts.; 2. Azerbaijan, 47 pts.; 3. Ukraine, 46 pts.; 4. Kazakhstan, 41 pts.; 5. Germany, 39 pts.; 6. Belarus, 39 pts.; 7. Greece, 38 pts.; 8. Romania, 35 pts.; 9. Korea, 34 pts.; 10. Canada, 30 pts.; 11. Georgia, 24 pts.; 12. Kyrgyzstan, 24 pts.; 13. Egypt, 23 pts.; 14. Japan, 23 pts.; 15. Hungary, 22 pts.; 16. Poland, 13 pts.; 17. China, 12 pts.; 18. France, 10 pts.; 19. Macedonia, 9 pts.; 20. Bulgaria, 8 pts.; 21. Guinea-Bissau, 7 pts.; 22. Syria, 5 pts.; 23. Venezuela, 4 pts.; 24. Tunisia, 4 pts.; 25. Taipei, 3 pts.; 26. Central African Rep., 2 pts.; 27. Mexico, 1 pt.; 28. Indonesia, 1 pt.
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - 1. Moldova, 59 pts.; 2. Russia, 56 pts.; 3. Azerbaijan, 54 pts.; 4. Belarus, 52 pts.; 5. Germany, 52 pts.; 6. Georgia, 49 pts.; 7. Slovakia, 49 pts.; 8. Romania, 47 pts.; 9. Japan, 41 pts.; 10. Armenia, 39 pts.; 11. Canada, 35 pts.; 12. Italy, 34 pts.; 13. Great Britain, 34 pts.; 14. Poland, 34 pts.; 15. Macedonia, 33 pts.; 16. Kazakhstan, 30 pts.; 17. France, 29 pts.; 18. Mongolia, 29 pts.; 19. Greece, 26 pts.; 20. Switzerland, 23 pts.; 21. Turkey, 22 pts.; 22. Hungary, 22 pts.; 23. China, 14 pts.; 24. Cambodia, 9 pts.; 25. Tunisia, 7 pts.; 26. Central African Rep., 7 pts.; 27. Guinea-Bissau, 7 pts.; 28. Ivory Coast, 6 pts.; 29. Mexico, 5 pts.; 30. Egypt, 4 pts.; 31. Venezuela, 3 pts.; 32. Syria, 3 pts.; 33. Cameroon, 2 pts.; 34. Taipei, 1 pt.
69 kg/152 lbs.- 1. Russia, 69 pts.; 2. Iran, 65 pts.; 3. Belarus, 62 pts.; 4. Ukraine, 59 pts. 5. Kazakhstan, 56 pts.; 6. Poland, 55 pts.; 7. Moldova, 51 pts.; 8. Korea, 45 pts.; 9. Japan, 43 pts.; 10. Romania, 42 pts.; 11. India, 41 pts.; 12. China, 38 pts.; 13. Netherlands, 31 pts.; 14. France, 30 pts.; 15. Bulgaria, 30 pts.; 16. Azerbaijan, 25 pts.; 17. Hungary, 23 pts.; 18. Macedonia, 21 pts.; 19. Slovakia, 20 pts.; 20. Puerto Rico, 17 pts.; 21. Spain, 16 pts.; 22. Germany, 15 pts.; 23. Guinea-Bissau, 14 pts.; 24. Syria, 12 pts.; 25. Mongolia, 12 pts.; 26. Great Britain, 10 pts.; 27. Jamaica, 9 pts.; 28. Mexico, 8 pts.; 29. Egypt, 6 pts.; 30. Venezuela, 6 pts.; 31. Belgium, 5 pts.; 32. Panama, 4 pts.; 33. Taipei, 2 pts.; 34. South Africa, 2 pts.; 35. Uruguay, 1 pt.; 36. Tunisia, 1 pt.
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - 1. Uzbekistan, 65 pts.; 2. Poland, 61 pts.; 3. Kazakhstan, 59 pts.; 4. Hungary, 59 pts.; 5. Macedonia, 55 pts.; 6. Slovakia, 53 pts.; 7. Iran, 49 pts.; 8. China, 47 pts.; 9. Kyrgyzstan, 46 pts.; 10. Greece, 44 pts.; 11. Switzerland, 44 pts.; 12. Japan, 43 pts.; 13. Italy, 40 pts.; 14. Puerto Rico, 36 pts.;; 15. Canada, 32 pts.; 16. Mongolia, 31 pts.; 17. Georgia, 28 pts.; 18. Romania, 27 pts.; 19. Armenia, 24 pts.; 20. Senegal, 21 pts.; 21. Belarus, 20 pts.; 22. Great Britain, 19 pts.; 23. Spain, 18 pts.; 24. Cameroon, 11 pts.; 25. South Africa, 9 pts.; 26. Syria, 7 pts.; 27. Venezuela, 7 pts.; 28. Finland, 6 pts.; 29. Tunisia, 4 pts.; 30. Mexico, 4 pts.; 31. Egypt, 3 pts.; 32. Guinea-Bissau, 3 pts.; 33. Toga, 2 pts.; 34. Taipei, 2 pts.; 35. Guam, 1 pt.
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - 1. Ukraine, 71 pts.; 2. Hungary, 61 pts.; 3. Macedonia, 60 pts.; 4. Ivory Coast, 55 pts.; 5. Latvia, 55 pts.; 6. Romania, 54 pts.; 7. Switzerland, 54 pts.; 8. Iran, 52 pts.; 9. Germany, 51 pts.; 10. Belarus, 49 pts.; 11. Puerto Rico, 42 pts.; 12. Armenia, 41 pts.; 13. Canada, 39 pts.; 14. Mongolia, 32 pts.; 15. Bulgaria, 29 pts.; 16. Greece, 24 pts.; 17. India, 24 pts.; 18. Poland, 23 pts.; 19. Czech Rep., 21 pts.; 20. Tajikistan, 16 pts.; 21. Estonia, 14 pts.; 22. Great Britain, 13 pts.; 23. Azerbaijan, 11 pts.; 24. Guinea-Bissau, 9 pts.; 25. Lithuania, 9 pts.; 26. China, 8 pts.; 27. Slovakia, 7 pts.; 28. Georgia, 6 pts.; 29. Tunisia, 4 pts.; 30. Mexico, 3 pts.; 31. Venezuela, 3 pts.; 32. Egypt, 2 pts.; 33. Taipei, 2 pts.; 34. Guam, 1 pt.
97 kg/213.75 lbs. - 1. Germany, 54 pts.; 2. Ukraine, 48 pts.; 3. United States, 47 pts.; 4. Belarus, 45 pts.; 5. Slovakia, 37 pts.; 6. Switzerland, 36 pts.; 7. Lithuania, 36 pts.; 8. Kazakhstan, 35 pts.; 9. Hungary, 31 pts.; 10. Latvia, 30 pts.; 11. Netherlands, 29 pts.; 12. Mongolia, 23 pts.; 13. Bulgaria, 17 pts.; 14. Canada, 17 pts.; 15. Cameroon, 15 pts.; 16. China, 12