russian wrestling

[cacique]

does anyone know why so many russian wrestlers are moslems? are they all chechens or tartars? also, belarus and ukraine seem to have wrestlers with moslem names in their olympics teams.

[bambam]

Re: russian wrestling

does anyone know why so many russian wrestlers are moslems? are they all chechens or tartars? also, belarus and ukraine seem to have wrestlers with moslem names in their olympics teams.

Most "Russian" and former Soviet wrestlers were from either Georgia or the southern republics near the Caucausus and the Caspian Sea, such as Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. So many of them were likely Chechens and Tartars, which would explain the many Muslims among them. As you likely know, wrestling is extremely popular in Turkey, Mongolia, and Iran and surrounding nations and areas.

[cacique]

thanks. i was just wondering specifically which ethnicity were russia's gold medalists. i think they won about 4 gold medals in beijing.

georgians however are not muslims for the most part, i think.

also, what's the difference between greco-roman and freestyle?

[sprintblox]

also, what's the difference between greco-roman and freestyle?

The main difference is that Greco-Roman doesn't allow leg-hold takedowns.