Analysis of selection for wrestling for the Olympic Games in Tokyo

Abstract

Purpose: to analyze the qualification requirements for athletes to obtain Olympic licenses to participate in the XXXII Olympic Games in Tokyo in
wrestling. Materials and methods of research. Research methods: theoretical analysis and generalization of literature data and the Internet, methods of mathematical statistics. The initial results of the performances are taken from the official website of the International Wrestling
Federation (United World Wrestling) (https://uww.org/). MS Excel was used for statistical data processing and graphical presentation of results. Results: it is established that according to the requirements of the IOC in wrestling competitions at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo can participate no more than 288 athletes (16 wrestlers in 12 weight categories in men's competitions and 16 participants in six weight categories in women's competitions). For the right to participate in the Olympics in wrestling, a rather intense selection was carried out, which included several
stages. It was found that none of the strongest «wrestling» countries in the world has obtained the maximum number of licenses (18) for the Olympics. Russia has obtained 17 licenses, the United States – 15, 12 – from Cuba and Japan, 11 – in Iran, Kazakhstan and China, 10 – in Tunisia and
Ukraine. 10 or more participants will represent the 9 strongest «wrestling» states at the Olympics, which amounted to 37,85 % of all wrestlers. In total, the right to participate in the Olympics was won by representatives of 62 countries. Representatives of 14 countries obtained 52,43 % of
licenses. 20 countries will be able to put only one athlete at the Olympics, despite the fact that they include countries that have a long wrestling tradition. However, small countries have also won tickets to the Olympics, which testifies to the popularization of the struggle and the expansion of its
geography in the world. The largest number of tickets to the Olympics in Tokyo traditionally won the representatives of Europe – 122 licenses (42.36%), they lost to wrestlers from Asia – 84 licenses (29,17 %), much fewer licenses from the representatives of America – 44 (15,28 %), Africa and
Oceania – 38 (13,19 %). Conclusions. Limiting the number of wrestlers participating in the Olympics forces wrestling experts to be in constant search of the optimal system of selection of athletes, and such selection should, firstly, ensure the participation in the Olympics of all the strongest wrestlers on the planet and, secondly, give equal rights to different countries and continents in competition for this participation. The postponement of the Summer Olympics in
Tokyo to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic made adjustments to the qualification selection calendar and affected the results of the selection itself. All this together had a negative effect on the efficiency of selection, and a significant part of high-class wrestlers were not able to qualify for the Olympics.