Russian Greco-Roman Wrestling Federation President Mikhail Mamiashvili told a yesterday press conference devoted to the coming tournament that the majority of national teams regard the Moscow event as a qualification for the Olympic Games in Athens.
"That's why the most renowned wrestlers of the world have come to us, Olympic champion, American Rulon Gardner, and two-time Olympic champion Yerlikaya Hamza from Turkey among them," Mamiashvili said. These sportsmen will be the most serious rivals for Russians, he added.
The Russian national team includes: Olympic champion Varteres Samurgashev (74 kg), Olympic prize winner, world and Europe champion Alexei Glushkov (74 kg), world champion Khasan Baroyev (120 kg), World Cup winners Sergei Petrov (55 kg) and Yuri Patrikeyev (120 kg), and five-time world champion Gogi Koguashvili (96 kg).
