| United States places third in unofficial standings in Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling |
|
|
By Gary Abbott USA Wrestling
09/28/2000
Led by three individual medalists and five athletes who placed in the top six of their weight classes, the United States placed third in the unofficial team standings at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in Greco-Roman wrestling. This is an outstanding achievement, especially since all eight team members were competing in their first Olympic Games. Using the scoring system employed at each World Championships, the United States trailed Russia and Cuba in the team race after all eight weight classes were completed on September 27. Point scorers for the United States were gold medalist Rulon Gardner at 130 kg (10 points), silver medalist Matt Lindland at 76 kg (9 points), bronze medalist Garrett Lowney at 97 kg (8 points) and sixth place finishers Jim Gruenwald at 57 kg (5 points) and Kevin Bracken at 63 kg (5 points). This done by giving 10 points to the champion, nine to the runner-up, eight to the bronze medalist, down to one point for 10th place. Any athletes placing lower than 10th do not score points. There are no official team standings or team medals in Greco-Roman. The only official way to compare is through the medal count. However, wrestling traditionally evaluates the performance using the World Championships system. The United States also placed third in the medal count. Russia won with four medals (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). Cuba was second with three, including one gold and two silvers. The United States also had three, but had one gold, one silver and one bronze. The U.S. team was led by head coach Dan Chandler, assistant coach Rob Hermann and National Greco-Roman coach Steve Fraser, supported by a number of additional assistant coaches. The other members of the U.S. team who competed during the Olympics but did not score points in the unofficial standings were Steven Mays at 54 kg, Heath Sims at 69 kg and Quincey Clark at 85 kg. "I'm tickled pink," said National Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser. "We have struggled the last few years, and for the guys to step up and perform at this event was a great for our program. It is a tribute to our coaches, wrestlers and supporters that we could step up and place third at the Olympics." Unofficial team standings: Russia, 41 pts; Cuba, 39 pts.; United States, 37 pts.; Ukraine, 34 pts.; Korea, 32 pts.; Georgia, 25 pts.; Belarus, 20 pts.; Sweden, 19 pts.; Turkey, 14 pts.; Japan, 14 pts.; Israel, 14 pts.; China, 13 pts.; Germany, 13 pts.; Switzerland, 11 pts.; Bulgaria, 10 pts.; Kazakhstan, 10 pts.; Norway, 9 pts.; Azerbaijan, 9 pts.; Finland, 8 pts.; People's Republic of Korea, 8 pts.; Estonia, 8 pts.; Greece, 7 pts.; Uzbekistan, 7 pts.; Iran, 6 pts.; Poland, 6 pts.; Italy, 4 pts.; Romania, 4 pts.; Lithuania, 3 pts.; Kyrgyzstan, 3 pts.; Czech Republic, 2 pts.; Egypt, 2 pts.; Turkmenistan, 1 pt. Medal count: Russia, 4 (2 gold-1 silver-1bronze); Cuba, 3 (1-2-0); United States, 3 (1-1-1); Korea, 2 (1-1-0); Georgia, 2 (0-0-2); Bulgaria, 1 (1-0-0); Turkey, 1 (1-0-0); Sweden, 1 (1-0-0); Hungary, 1 (0-1-0); Japan, 1 (0-1-0); Norway, 1 (0-1-0); Ukraine, 1 (0-1-0); Belarus, 1 (0-0-1); People's Rep. Of Korea 1 (0-0-1); China, 1 (0-0-1); Finland, 1 (0-0-1)
|
|
|
HOME
