Greece, considered one of the big forces in the sport, enters the Beach Wrestling (with origins from the ancient times) competition with many dreams and aspirations.
Wrestling as a predominantly Greek, traditional sport, was always one of Greece’s “strongest cards” in the II Mediterranean Beach Games – Patras 2019, and recent successes in major international events confirm that it still is.
In 2015 the Greek delegation left Pescara with seven medals (2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze) in Beach Wrestling: seven out of 19 of the total medals tally, more than any other sport.
Four years later Greece will be represented by 12 athletes (8 men – 4 women), with the ambition and expectation to build on its success.
Of the athletes who won the medals in Pescara, Michail TSIKOVANI (silver at 90kg), Giorgos KALOUCHIDIS (bronze at 80kg), Agoro PAPAVASILIOU (70kg) and Katerina – Irene PITSIAVA (silver at +70kg) will be competing in Patras.
As part of the Patras 2019 Tournament, there will be competitions in six categories, four men’s and two women’s.
Greece, Syria, Portugal, France, Algeria, Albania, Cyprus, Italy and Spain will be taking part in the Men’s event (70kg, 80kg, 90kg, +90kg).
Greece, Italy, France and Spain are participating in the Women’s competition (70kg, +70kg).
Apart from Greece, France, Italy and Spain are also big forces among the Mediterranean teams.
What is the particularity of the sport? In the immediacy it offers and is a pole of attraction, in the sense that viewers are very close to the athletes fighting and able to see their reactions and movements from a close distance.
As a result, all competitions create an environment that excites the world.
The Beach Wrestling events will take place on Friday and Saturday, August 30th and 31st at the “Artemis” venue.