News
Page
=======================================================
USA Wrestling announced earlier this month the formation of the Living the Dream Medal Fund, which will reward wrestlers with as much as $250,000 for success at the 2012 Olympics in London.
In an effort to keep the sport’s top athletes from jumping to potentially lucrative MMA careers after a disappointing three-medal haul in Beijing, wrestlers in 2012 will receive $250,000 for gold, $50,000 for silver and $25,000 for bronze. The payout also increased for world championships medals, with prizes of $50,000, $25,000 and $15,000.
Wrestlers previously made $40,000 for Olympic gold and $21,000 for world championships titles.
“This is a really good commitment,” Missouri wrestling Coach Brian Smith said. “I know the athletes were all talking about it at the world team trials. Maybe it really isn’t that much when you think about what you put into it for years and the sacrifice away from jobs, but at least you’re going to get some reward now.”
The levels of these prizes are unusual.
American gold-medal winners in all sports are paid $25,000 by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and some sports’ governing bodies will supplement that amount. USA Table Tennis, for instance, pays $100,000 for gold. But many sports, such as basketball, tennis and softball, do not pay anything extra.
Wrestling’s fund was born largely out of the country’s unexceptional showing in Beijing.
In 16 weight classes across three divisions, only 22-year-old Henry Cejudo won a gold medal. Adam Wheeler (Greco-Roman) and Randi Miller (women’s freestyle) won bronze.
“Certainly our expectations were not met,” said Rich Bender, executive director of USA Wrestling. “We have set a standard that is much higher than three medals. We had some success in the past. Where we just kind of lacked is at the Olympic level.”
One problem: missing bodies. Some of the nation’s top former college wrestlers have pushed aside Olympic dreams for the lure of MMA, and who could blame them? Sponsor deals are scarce, and USA Wrestling provides only a small stipend to most national team members — Askren received $7,500 last year.
So the sport’s brain trust developed the incentive program it hopes will sway wrestlers such as Cejudo, who has flirted with the idea of becoming an MMA fighter, and Askren to stay with wrestling.
For now, Askren is unconcerned with the new fund. He said it will have “zero influence” on his future.
But while Askren plans to continue cagefighting this fall, he also leans toward a return to his first love.
A bitter taste still lingers from Beijing, where he guaranteed gold but fell in his second match and declared “my dreams are crushed.”
Askren has not trained seriously since then, but he wrestled daily during the season with his old Missouri teammates as a volunteer assistant. In time, he believes his heart will be set on the London Games.
“I’ll get there soon enough,” Askren said. “When I need to be there, I’ll be there.”
And waiting will be a prize like no other.
“We’re hoping to pay Ben Askren a lot of money,” Bender said. “We’re really excited about him coming back, and we want to write him a number of checks.”
In a related event, the Tunisian wrestler Naziha Hamza made history by winning a gold medal, defeating Spain’s Sanchez Parra Sarra on Saturday.
It is the first time a Tunisian female wrestler wins a gold medal in an international event, outside of the country.
===================================================================================================www.chinaview.cn  2009-06-30
20:37:22 |
BEIJING, June 30 -- The sweating wrestlers are struggling to pin down their rivals on the mat amid cheers from exciting spectators.
The ongoing game is part of the 2009 National Chinese-style Wrestling Championship which began on Saturday in north China's Handan city in Henan Province.
The three-day game was co-hosted by General Administration of Sport and Chinese Wrestling Association, attracting 312 wrestlers from 38 teams around the country, including 226 male athletes and 86 female athletes.
Of all the 18 gold medals on offer, 10 are for men and 8 for women.
SOUNDBITE: Ma Jianguo, chief referee of the game, said, "The rule of Chinese-style wrestling is very simple and understandable. For the wrestler, if any part of the body other than two feet touches the mat, he will lose point."
According to Ma Jianguo, Chinese-style wrestling has a history of over 4,000 years. This traditional Chinese martial art, which combines grapples and strikes and emphasizes the perfect integration of strength and techniques, is especially embraced by people in North China.
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shijiazhuang. (XHTV)
=====================================================================================================
usa
Women athletes
who will be representing the United States at World-level events this
year will be traveling to Canada in July for extensive training and
competition.JAPANESE WORLD TEAM SET FOR DENMARK IN SEPT.
TOKYO (June 21) – With the conclusion of the Meiji Nyugyo Cup
men’s national invitational tourney and a special wrestle-off for
the women’s 59kg slot, the Japanese delegation for the world
championships in Denmark this fall has been set. The world
championships will be held September 21-27 in Herning, Denmark.
The only major change among world team qualifiers is Yu Horiuchi, who
is being forced to sit out at 51kg because of an injury to her right
shoulder. Horiuchi will be replaced by 2007 World Cup champion Yuri
Kai, the runner-up in both the All-Japan meet in December and the
women’s nationals in April.
The Japanese world team line-up:
Women’s freestyle
48kg – SAKAMOTO, Makiko (Japan SDF), 23, 3rd
51kg – KAI, Yuri (Aishin AW), 25, 1st
55kg – YOSHIDA, Saori (ALSOK Security), 26, 7th (9th, including
Olympics)
59kg – YAMANA, Kei (Aishin AW), 22, 1st
63kg – NISHIMAKI, Mio (Chukyo Women’s Univ.), 21, 2nd
67kg – INOUE, Yoshiko (CWU), 21, 2nd
72kg – SANO, Asuka (Japan SDF), 27, 1st
===============================================================================================
USA
Living the Dream Medal Fund contributor list goes over 100 |
||
 In just its first month in existence, the list of
contributors for the new Living the Dream Medal Fund has gone over 100.On Friday, May 30, USA Wrestling made a major announcement that this new program was established to substantially increase the financial rewards for U.S. wrestlers who win Olympic and World medals during the next four-year Olympic cycle. On Tuesday, June 30, the list of contributors to the fund reached 101 people. Of the first 101 donors, there were 30 states represented. Colorado had the most individual donors with 21. Other states with five or more donors in the first month were New York, Iowa, New Jersey and California. There were some prominent names on the list including Olympic champions Dan Gable, John Smith, Bruce Baumgartner and Momir Petkovic and World champion Zeke Jones. The first donor was Al Bevilacqua of Amityville, N.Y., the 2008 USA Wrestling Man of the Year, who has taken a leadership role in helping promote the program and educate the wrestling community about its importance. However, a majority of the donors so far have been wrestling supporters, people who have a strong love and commitment to the sport and want to see the United States athletes succeed on the Olympic and World stage. For the current list of Living the Dream Medal Fund donors, click here: http://www.themat.com/section.php?section_id=3&page=showarticle&ArticleID=20465 The Living the Dream Medal Fund has a simple approach. Any U.S. wrestler who wins a gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England will receive a quarter-million dollars ($250,000). Silver medalists in London will earn $50,000 and bronze medalists in London will receive $25,000. The payout for a World Championships medal in 2009, 2010 and 2011 will be $50,000 for a gold, $25,000 for a silver and $15,000 for a bronze. The Fund will be maintained as a restricted and segregated fund by USA Wrestling.* It will be overseen by a board that includes representatives of USA Wrestling as well as the group of stewards who have helped establish the Fund and will assist in financially underwriting it. In addition to the support of the stewards, funding will also come from a public fundraising program as well as from existing support from USA Wrestling and the U.S. Olympic Committee. Included among the stewards are all three Team Leaders for the U.S. wrestling programs: Mike Novogratz (freestyle), Dave Barry (Greco-Roman) and the family of Kim Martori-Wickey (women). Other initial stewards in the program include Rich Tavoso, Stan Dziedzic and Joe Alpert. USA Wrestling has set up a website for the Living the Dream Medal Fund, where wrestling supporters can make donations to the project. People have been asked to give donations from $5 to $5,000 to the fund. To make an online donation, click here: http://www.living-the-dream-medal-fund.com/index.php?page=donate Supporters can also send their contribution by mail. Checks should be made out to USA Wrestling, and sent to: Living the Dream Medal Fund c/o USA Wrestling 6155 Lehman Dr. Colorado Springs, CO 80917 The goal is to include thousands of people from all across the nation, all who share a passion for wrestling. In the first month, there were 101 contributors. How many will join the list in the second month? U.S. athletes have responded with appreciation and excitement to the development of this progressive new project. "It just shows how close-knit the wrestling community is. This sport brings all these amazing people together for a great cause. It's everybody helping everybody," U.S. Freestyle World Team member Jake Herbert told the Associated Press. USA Wrestling will reach out to the wrestling community in numerous ways in the upcoming month, explaining the program and encouraging people to participate. Those that contribute will also be asked to help spread the word. You can make a difference and be a part of the success of our American wrestlers. JOIN THE LIST today!!! *This announcement summarizes the purpose of and provides general information regarding the living the dream medal fund. Additional information pertaining to the fund may be obtained from USA Wrestling, including information regarding return of contributions to donors in the event the full amount of the fund is not awarded after conclusion of the 2012 Olympic Games based on the performance of the USA Wrestling 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Teams and 2012 USA Olympic Wrestling Teams. |
||
