FILA ANNOUNCES FINAL STANDINGS AT EACH WEIGHT CLASS FOR GRECO-ROMAN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION EVENT SERIES; USA QUALIFIES AT THE 63 KG/138.75 POUND WEIGHT CLASSFILA, the international wrestling federation, has posted the final standings in each weight class for the Greco-Roman 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 Greco-Roman competition at the Olympic Games were determined through this series of events.
Five Greco-Roman Olympic Regional events were held: Faenza, Italy; Clermont-Ferrand, France; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; Colorado Springs, Colo.; 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 are 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 63 kg/138.75 pound weight division. In the final standings, the USA placed fourth among all nations in the qualifying series, with 51 points.
With the addition of the 63 kg class, the United States has now qualified to compete in four weight classes in Greco-Roman at the Olympic Games (63 kg/138.75 lbs., 85 kg/187.25 lbs., 97 kg/213.75 lbs., 130 kg/286 lbs.).
Through the Olympic qualification tournaments, the U.S. attempted to qualify at four other weight classes, but did not place in the top seven in the final standings.
At 58 kg/127.75 pounds, the U.S. placed eighth in the final standings. At 76 kg/167.5 pounds, the U.S. placed ninth in the final standings. At 69 kg/152 pounds, the U.S. placed 10th in the final standings. At 54 kg/119 pounds, the U.S. placed 16th in the final standings.
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 will 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. This will be the final opportunity for the U.S. to qualify athletes at the four weight classes not yet qualified.
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.
No nation has yet qualified athletes at all 8 weight classes in Greco-Roman. Russia and Belarus have qualified at seven weight classes. Georgia, Poland, Turkey and Ukraine have qualified at six weight classes.
GRECO-ROMAN OLYMPIC QUALIFICATION SERIES
Top seven nations at each weight qualify for Olympic Games
Final National rankings
54 kg/119 lbs. - 1. China, 63 pts.; 2. Azerbaijan, 52 pts.; 3. Kyrgyzstan, 48 pts.; 4. Ukraine, 45 pts.; 5. Turkey, 44 pts.; 6. Finland, 44 pts.; 7. Poland, 41 pts.; 8. Belarus, 37 pts.; 9. Uzbekistan, 36 pts.; 10. Greece, 36 pts.; 11. Hungary, 36 pts.; 12. Japan, 34 pts.; 13. Bulgaria, 32 pts.; 14. Iran, 32 pts.; 15. Sweden, 30 pts.; 16. United States, 30 pts.; 17. Armenia, 29 pts.; 18. Spain, 22 pts.; 19. Romania, 20 pts.; 20 Latvia, 19 pts.; 21. France, 16 pts.; 22. Moldova, 9 pts.; 23. Italy, 7 pts.; 24. Taipei, 4 pts.; 25. Tunisia, 3 pts.; 26. Maritius, 2 pts.; 27. Brazil, 2 pts.; 28. Austria, 1 pt.; 29. Portugal, 1 pt.
58 kg/ 127.75 lbs. - 1. France, 61 pts.; 2. Iran, 57 pts.; 3. Georgia, 56 pts.; 4. Armenia, 55 pts.; 5. Ukraine, 54 pts.; 6. Japan, 48 pts.; 7. Germany, 47 pts.; 8. United States, 46 pts.; 9. Russia, 42 pts.; 10. Greece, 41 pts.; 11. Poland, 35 pts.; 12. Azerbaijan, 33 pts.; 13. Israel, 31 pts.; 14. Turkmenistan, 30 pts.; 15. Finland, 30 pts.; 16. Austria, 25 pts.; 17. Turkey, 22 pts.; 18. Latvia, 21 pts.; 19. Canada, 19 pts.; 20. Portugal, 17 pts.; 21. Sweden, 16 pts.; 22. India, 9 pts.; 23. Egypt, 9 pts.; 24. Spain, 8 pts.; 25. Kyrgyzstan, 6 pts.; 26. Netherlands, 6 pts.; 27. Tunisia, 5 pts.; 28. Albania, 2 pts.; 29. Italy, 2 pts.; 30. Brazil, 1 pt.
63 kg/138.75 lbs. - 1. Russia, 66 pts.; 2. Poland, 60 pts.; 3. Switzerland, 55 pts.; 4. United States, 51 pts.; 5. China, 47 pts.; 6. Japan, 46 pts.; 7. Georgia, 45 pts.; 8. Finland, 45 pts.; 9. Hungary, 42 pts.; 10. Turkmenistan, 41 pts.; 11. Bulgaria, 40 pts.; 12. Spain, 39 pts.; 13. Azerbaijan, 34 pts.; 14. Sweden, 34 pts.; 15. Germany, 34 pts.; 16. Iran, 27 pts.; 17. Croatia, 27 pts.; 18. Austria, 23 pts.; 19. France, 21 pts.; 20. Greece, 21 pts.; 21. Portugal, 15 pts.; 22. Canada, 14 pts.; 23. Egypt, 12 pts.; 24. Albania, 7 pts.; 25. Czech Republic, 7 pts.; 26. Tunisia, 5 pts.; 27. Kyrgyzstan, 5 pts.; 28. Venezuela, 3 pts.; 29. Puerto Rico, 3 pts.; 30. Estonia, 3 pts.; 31. Taipei, 2 pts.; 32. Jordan, 1 pt.
69 kg/152 lbs. - 1. Germany, 66 pts.; 2. Romania, 64 pts.; 3. Sweden, 60 pts.; 4. Finland, 57 pts.; 5. Poland, 52 pts.; 6. Azerbaijan, 47 pts.; 7. Japan, 46 pts.; 8. Norway, 46 pts.; 9. Bulgaria, 43 pts.; 10. United States, 42 pts.; 11. China, 40 pts.; 12. Bosnia/Herzogovina, 38 pts.; 13. Turkey, 37 pts.; 14. Estonia, 36 pts.; 15. Uzbekistan, 34 pts.; 16. Greece, 29 pts.; 17. Armenia, 26 pts.; 18. Georgia, 26 pts.; 19. Switzerland, 24 pts.; 20. North Korea, 20 pts.; 21. Austria, 15 pts.; 22. Syria, 14 pts.; 23. Kyrgyzstan, 12 pts.; 24. Jamaica, 10 pts.; 25. Kazakhstan, 8 pts.; 26. Egypt, 6 pts.; 27. Czech Republic, 6 pts.; 28. Canada, 5 pts.; 29. Taipei, 5 pts.; 30. Italy, 5 pts.; 31. Maritius, 4 pts.; 32. Tunisia, 3 pts.; 33. Puerto Rico, 3 pts.; 34. Libya, 2 pts.; 35. Namibia, 1 pt.; 36. Jordan, 1 pt.
76 kg/167.5 lbs. - 1. Azerbaijan, 60 pts.; 2. Japan, 55 pts.; 3. Belarus, 54 pts.; 4. Poland, 52 pts.; 5. Korea, 49 pts.; 6. Finland, 48 pts.; 7. Uzbekistan, 46 pts.; 8. Kazakhstan, 46 pts.; 9. United States, 38 pts.; 10. Bulgaria, 38 pts.; 11. Romania, 38 pts.; 12. Ukraine, 29 pts.; 13. Estonia, 28 pts.; 14. China, 27 pts.; 15. Yugoslavia, 25 pts.; 16. Spain, 24 pts.; 17. Germany, 24 pts.; 18. Italy, 22 pts.; 19. Syria, 14 pts.; 20. Norway, 14 pts.; 21. Iran, 13 pts.; 22. Slovakia, 13 pts.; 23. Tunisia, 11 pts.; 24. Egypt, 6 pts.; 25. Netherlands, 6 pts.; 26. Canada, 6 pts.; 27. Jordan, 5 pts.; 28. Kyrgyzstan, 4 pts.; 29. Dominican Republic, 3 pts.; 30. Venezuela, 3 pts.; 31. Panama, 2 pts.; 32. Kenya, 2 pts.; 33. El Salvador, 1 pt.; 34. Libya, 1 pt.; 35. Taipei, 1 pt.; 36. Maritius, 1 pt.
85 kg/187.25 lbs. - 1. Russia, 63 pts.; 2. Turkey, 62 pts.; 3. Egypt, 60 pts.; 4. Norway, 57 pts.; 5. Ukraine, 57 pts.; 6. Hungary, 54 pts.; 7. Israel, 47 pts.; 8. Uzbekistan, 45 pts.; 9. Poland, 43 pts.; 10. Iran, 41 pts.; 11. Switzerland, 41 pts.; 12. Greece, 37 pts.; 13. Japan, 35 pts.; 14. Bulgaria, 30 pts.; 15. China, 29 pts.; 16. France, 23 pts.; 17. Italy, 22 pts.; 18. Netherlands, 21 pts.; 19. Korea, 20 pts.; 20. Czech Republic, 20 pts.; 21. Tunisia, 19 pts.; 22. Canada, 18 pts.; 23. Argentina, 17 pts.; 24. Georgia, 11 pts.; 25. Venezuela, 6 pts.; 26. Dominican Republic, 6 pts.; 27. Yugoslavia, 5 pts.; 28. Azerbaijan, 5 pts.; 29. Kenya, 4 pts.; 30. Kazakhstan, 4 pts.; 31. Brazil, 4 pts.; 32. Spain, 3 pts.; 33. Libya, 1 pt.; 34. Syria, 1