Rio 2016: Olympic wrestling preview day 4: Women’s Freestyle 48kg, 58kg & 69kg

We’ll begin this preview of Day 4 as we will all future previews, with a link back to our Olympics Wrestling primer, which has a cheat sheet and live stream details.

Also a note that wrestling brackets are random draw and uneven. You can check out the brackets from the 2015 World Championship and the European Olympic Qualification Tournament to give you a better idea of what the Rio brackets will look like.

All to the point that picking place finishers before the weigh-ins are completed and brackets are released (which happens the day before the tournament) is a fool’s errand. Which is perhaps why I find it so much fun.

Women’s Freestyle 48kg

PICKS

GOLD: Eri Tosaka JPN

SILVER: Mariya Stadnik AZE

BRONZE: Carolina Castillo COL

BRONZE: Patricia Bermudez ARG

CONTENDERS

Some people say this is the deepest women’s weight class. Others, (me), say, when in doubt, pick the Japanese wrestler. Azerbaijan’s Stadnik will be looking for a gold to complete the Olympic trifecta, having won silver in London and bronze in Beijing. Neither Castillo nor Bermudez have the pedigrees of our hypothetical finalists but they will (theoretically) benefit from home continent advantage.

OTHERS OF NOTE

Yana Sun from China has a win over Tosaka earlier this year. Elitsa Tankova from Bulgaria is a former junior level champion. Haley Augello is making her senior Team USA debut and has the ability to do some damage in Rio.

RANKINGS

1 AZE Mariya STADNIK

2 CHN Yanan SUN

3 JPN Eri TOSAKA

4 KAZ Zhuldyz ESHIMOVA

6 ARG Patricia BERMUDEZ

7 ROU Emilia VUC

8 BUL Elitsa YANKOVA

9 COL Carolina CASTILLO

10 CAN Jasmine MIAN

12 NED Jessica BLASZKA

13 PRK HyonGyong KIM

14 IND Vinesh VINESH

17 USA Haley AUGELLO

19 VIE Thi VU

20 CMR Rebecca MUAMBO

CAM Sotheara CHOV

HON Brenda BAILEY

NGR Miesinnei GENESIS

POL Iwona MATKOWSKA

RUS Milana DADASHEVA

Women’s Freestyle 58kg

PICKS

GOLD: Kaori Icho JPN

SILVER: Petra Olli FIN

BRONZE: Valeriia Koblova RUS

BRONZE: Jackeline Renteria COL

CONTENDERS

Japanese superstar Icho has thirteen world level championships, no big deal. Finnish delight Petra Olli lost to Icho in last year’s world championship final, but she is still perfect for those ‘get you one who can do both’ memes. Koblova has been injured lately but has an impressive history. Columbia’s Renteria shouold also benefit from the totally real thing I definitely didn’t make up called home continent advantage.

And here’s one more of Petra Olli, just because.

OTHERS OF NOTE

Mongolia’s Orkhon Purevdorj is one of the only wrestlers at the tournament who can claim a victory over the great Icho, which occurred last January. Additionally, this is one of the four weights for which the USA did not qualify.

RANKINGS

1 JPN Kaori ICHO

2 RUS Valeriia KOBLOVA-ZHOLOBOVA

3 SWE Malin MATTSSON

4 TUR Elif YESILIRMAK

5 COL Jackeline RENTERIA

6 KGZ Aisuluu TYNYBEKOVA

7 MGL Orkhon PUREVDORJ

8 AZE Yuliya RATKEVICH

10 BUL Mimi HRISTOVA

11 GER Luisa NIEMESCH

12 TUN Marwa AMRI

13 NGR Aminat ADENIYI

16 CAN Michelle FAZZARI

17 MDA Mariana CHERDIVARA-ESANU

18 ECU Lissette ANTES

20 BRA Joice SOUZA-DASILVA

​ UKR Oksana HERHEL

FIN Petra OLLI

IND Sakshi MALIK

PER Yanet SOVERO

Women’s Freestyle 69kg

PICKS

GOLD: Feng Zhou CHN

SILVER: Natalia Vorobeva RUS

BRONZE: Aline Focken GER

BRONZE: Anna Fransson SWE

CONTENDERS

Vorobeva is the reigning world champ from Russia, however she has stumbled a couple times in her pre-Olympic tune ups. That may leave the door open for the young, 22 year old Zhou, from China. Germany’s Focken and Sweden’s Fransson both have notched medals at recent world championships and elite international tournaments.

OTHERS OF NOTE

This is the final weight for which there will be no Americans. But our neighbors to the north (if you’re American, I mean), will be sending Dorothy Yeats, who is a medal threat. Canada actually qualified their whole women’s team, so you’ll have a host of Canadiennes to root for, if that’s you’re thing.

RANKINGS

1 CHN Feng ZHOU

2 GER Aline FOCKEN

3 SWE Anna FRANSSON

4 RUS Natalia VOROBEVA

5 JPN Sara DOSHO

6 TUR Buse TOSUN

7 UKR Alina STADNIK-MAKHYNIA

8 POL Agnieszka WIESZCZEK-KORDUS

9 KAZ Elmira SYZDYKOVA

10 ISR Ilana KRATYSH

12 CAN Dorothy YEATS

13 MGL Nasanburmaa OCHIRBAT

16 VEN Maria ACOSTA

17 NOR Signe STORE

BRA Gilda DEOLIVEIRA

EGY Enas AHMED

NGR Hannah RUEBEN

TPE Wen-Ling CHEN

AND NOW FOR A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME

DISAGREE WITH OUR PROGNOSTICATION?

Let us know in the comments and claim your internet points when you inevitably prove me wrong!