1999 WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE THE FIRST QUALIFYING EVENT FOR THE 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA; 128 OLYMPIC BERTHS UP FOR GRABS IN ATHENS, GREECE AND ANKARA, TURKEYThe 1999 World Championships in both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling have tremendous significance, as the tournaments also serve as the first and largest qualifying event for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
The 1999 Greco-Roman World Championships will be held in Athens, Greece from September 23-26.
The 1999 Freestyle World Championships will be held in Ankara, Turkey from October 7-10.
The top eight place winners at the 1999 World Championships in both freestyle and Greco-Roman qualify their nation to participate in the 2000 Olympic Games in their weight division.
In total, 128 Olympic berths will be determined at the 1999 World Championship events, 64 in freestyle and 64 in Greco-Roman.
The Olympic Games wrestling competition is not an open tournament. Starting with the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, 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 1999 World Championships is the first stage of a three-phase qualification system for wrestling at the 2000 Olympics.
It is important to remember that the athletes participating in these qualification events do not qualify themselves for the Games; rather, they are qualifying their nation to participate in that weight class. Once a weight class is qualified, the nation may choose whatever athlete it wants to compete in the Olympic Games.
The other two qualifying phases include:
* Phase 2 - Olympic Qualification Tournaments: FILA, the international wrestling federation, will select five qualification tournaments in each style during the months of January-April 2000. The tournament locations will include two events in Europe, one in the Americas, one in Asia and one in Africa.
Three of the five events count towards each nation's total at each weight class. Athletes score points for their nation at each event, based upon their placing at the weight class. After the five events are concluded, the points will be added up. The top seven nations at each weight class will qualify for the Olympic Games. A total of 112 Olympic berths will be determined through these qualification tournaments, 56 in freestyle and 56 in Greco-Roman.
* Phase 3 - Continental Championships: The final opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games is at the 2000 Continental Championships. The five continental events in wrestling are Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and Pan American, which will be held during April-May 2000. At each weight class, the top placing athlete at each weight class whose nation has not qualified for the Olympics will earn a spot in the 2000 Olympic Games.
A total of 80 Olympic berths will be determined at the Continental Championships, 40 in freestyle and 40 in Greco-Roman.
What does this mean to the United States teams competing at the 1999 World Championships?
Like every other nation, the United States must participate in the qualifying events for the 2000 Olympic Games wrestling competition. At this point, no nation has qualified athletes in wrestling for the Sydney Olympics.
Ever since qualification was required to participate in the Olympic Games, the United States has qualified complete wrestling teams. However, in no way is there a guarantee that the United States will qualify at every weight class this time. During each Olympic four-year cycle, there is a new qualification cycle.
The main question that will be determined at the 1999 World Championships is how many weight classes the United States will qualify during the first phase of the process. It is the goal of the U.S. coaching staff to qualify as many weight classes as possible during the World Championships, to avoid needing to use the Olympic Qualifying events and the Pan American Championships to qualify athletes.
What is the prospect for the United States at the 1999 World Championships?
The possibility exists that the United States could qualify all 16 positions for the Olympic Games (8 in freestyle and 8 in Greco-Roman) during the 1999 World Championship events. However, this would be a spectacular achievement for any nation, and is not expected.
If you went back to the 1998 World Championships as an example, the United States had six freestyle athletes and two Greco-Roman athletes place in the top eight of their weight classes. Certainly, the U.S. team has gained experience since last year. All of the nations are expected to bring their best athletes to the 1999 World Championships, since it is such an important qualifying event.
The bracketing system for international wrestling has changed this year, and could also pose additional challenges during the qualifying process. The athletes are paired by a blind draw, and each weight class is broken up into pools of three or four athletes. A round-robin is held in each pool, with the winner of the pool moving into the 16-athlete bracket. A few athletes that placed second in their pool (based upon the size of the field at that weight class) will also qualify to complete the 16-athlete bracket. Any athlete who does not advance past the pool competition has no chance at all to place in the top eight in the division.
If an athlete draws outstanding competitors in the pool competition, it is possible that he might not advance into the 16-athlete bracket, and would be eliminated. The most important job for each athlete at the tournament is to advance past the pool competition.