Two wrestlers per weight class will earn invites to the 2024 Olympic Games at the upcoming Euro Qualifier. Here’s what that means for Team USA’s men’s freestyle wrestlers.
How Do You Get To The Paris Olympics?
Practice, practice, practice. Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Anyway, what you actually want to know is how wrestlers get themselves in the brackets at the Olympics so they can compete for a gold medal.
There are three ways a country can qualify a weight class for the Games:
1) Finish in the top 5 at the 2023 World Championships
2) Finish in the top 2 at the Continental Qualifier
2) Finish in the top 3 of the World Qualifier
The 2023 Worlds were last year (duh) and we are now in the midst of Continental Qualifier Season. The World Qualifier (aka the Last Chance Qualifier) is over the second weekend in May.
Where Do Team USA’s Men’s Freestylers Stand With Regards To Olympic Qualification?
Team USA qualified four of the six Olympic weights in men’s freestyle at the 2023 World Championship (74, 86, 97 & 125kg). The Pan-Am Qualifier took place at the end of February. Team USA did not qualify either 57 or 65kg at the Pan-Am Qualifier.
So that’s where we’re at! We still need to qualify 57 and 65 at the World Qualifier, which will happen after the Olympic Team Trials. So whoever wins those wrestle-offs will head to Istanbul, Turkey to try and place in the top three, either by making the finals or by wrestling back for bronze and then winning a wrestle-off with the other bronze…
