At the end of October, two world championships in classical sports, which are traditionally popular in Belarus, will be held

An honest, noble fight on the carpet and an iron game of a man with a barbell. Wrestling World Cup starts on Saturday, October 24, in Kazakhstan's Astana, weightlifting championship - on Monday in Chinese Ningbo.

Immediately note: the weightlifter tournament is qualifying for the Games-2028 in Los Angeles, while the wrestlers in October-2026 are still happily spared from thinking about the Olympic prospect. Let me explain my idea of happiness. The fate of a sports journalist gave me the opportunity to work in several world championships in wrestling - some of them were qualifying, others were not. Well, I liked the second one better. Spectacular contractions! Without being enslaved by the responsibility to the “five rings”, the boys and girls fought nicely. What convinced of the self-sufficiency of the world championship, its indisputable "topovovnost". I am sure that will be the case this time in Astana.

Martial arts are the turtle on which all Olympic elephants stand. At the Games in Hellas there was their true cult, which is an undoubted fact, that is, proved by historians and other archaeologists. There were already three disciplines in the course: fist fights, fights without rules (pankration - you can not bite and stick out your eyes) and, finally, classical wrestling. It is the cherry on the cake, confirmed by numerous scientific studies: it was the classical wrestling that was the decisive, final form of the ancient pentathlon! After all the jumps, running and throwing, the dispute for the laurel wreaths of Olympic champions was transferred to the wrestling platform. And the greatest lover of wisdom Plato was an elite master of contractions, which, by the way, is easily read not only from his broken ears, but also from philosophical studies. Re-read the chapter from the fundamental work The Republic, in which Plato discusses the education of warrior guards. Immediately you will see a thoroughly thought out technique of the specialist, which he shed a lot of sweat during training. Both power and gymnastic. Without the same stretch, there is no elite fighter. In any weight category.

As for the “iron game”, in Hellas it was stone and was a basic athletic exercise. Moreover, some data that have come to us from the depths of centuries, make both admiringly touch the tongue and suspect hyperbolization. Take at least the stone of Bibon, attributed to the VI century BC. e. This block of black sandstone found in Olympia weighs 143.5 kg. The caption reads: “Bibon, son of Fole, lifted me above his head with one hand.” Of course, the first thought: this is impossible, this is falsification! But then... Who knows, who knows. In any case, to overcome themselves in the battle with weights, a person has always sought. What nurtured private pride, and at the same time received the necessary training effect. After all, here is an example of the most famous fighter of antiquity Milon of Croton. He trained strength by lifting a calf on his shoulders every day and carrying it around the stadium. The calf grew, and Milon's strength grew. As a result, he was able to bypass the stadium in Olympia, carrying on the shoulders of an adult four-year-old bull. So, when today the mentors of the triumphant pop up on the wrestling carpet or athletic platform to joyfully lift their wards on their shoulders and make a circle of honor, this is greetings to Milon Crotonsky and his calf.

However, it is time to return to today, in order to first of all note the following: the original wrestling world championship was not registered in Astana. The International Wrestling Federation designated Manama in Bahrain as the capital of the forum. However, the escalation of hostilities in the Persian Gulf region forced the authorities of the kingdom to trumpet the withdrawal, which was heard. Three Central Asian countries competed for the right to replace Bahrain: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. As a result, the capital won the first – Astana, which offered to hold the World Cup at the well-known hockey fans of Barys Arena. Everyone will be really comfortable there.

Let us not be hypocritical: for our national team, moving from Manama to the better! Logistics, security and good familiarity with the conditions - these are the trump cards of Astana for Belarusians. As for the disadvantages, they are common. UWW has not yet found sponsors who would provide the championship with a prize fund. Like in athletics, for example, where the “world” won, and you immediately bang – 100 thousand dollars! There is no such Eldorado in the struggle, which is why it is really sad. But Belarusians in Astana will perform as full-fledged participants – with the national flag and anthem. Athletes and coaches know that the country will not forget them. The main thing is that our athletes do not hang out on the carpet, as sometimes, unfortunately, happened in the recent past. But as the former head coach of the domestic “classics” Valery Gaiduk said: “Until they began to fight, the mood is great!” Immediately note that with him and after the top tournaments, everything was fine. I hope that the World Cup in Astana will give reasons to rejoice for the domestic struggle.

Fortunately, at the helm of the teams are respected specialists. At the head of the "classics" is just the former assistant of Gaiduk - Igor Petrenko. He is a titled athlete and fanatical fan of wrestling. I'm not sure that Igor Anatolyevich has other topics for conversation. "Volnikov" will lead into battle Ivan Yankovsky - a student of Anatoly Yermak. By the way, I perfectly remember the debut of this weight in the international arena: the European Championship 2006 in Moscow, the Olympic Palace on Mira Avenue. And this is how time runs! Finally, the women’s team is the area of responsibility of Vagram Ohanesyan, who is helped by the verified Sergey Klyuchnik and Artur Zaitsev.

As for the athletes, every Belarusian participant can become a hero. I am extremely interested now in the “classic”-heavy Abubakar Haslakhanov. But he recently won the youth world Cup in Las Vegas, and the powers are not limitless. Maybe he should take a breath. In any case, not only skill is important, but also will, which is the best business card for establishing good relations with luck. And these are not my words - the greatest of the great Alexander Bear.

Belarusian weightlifters will also perform in China as full-fledged participants of the World Cup. For which we should praise the International Weightlifting Federation, which, however, is far from well-being. After all the doping scandals, the number of medal kits decreased in Paris-2024 to 10 – five men’s and women’s scales. In Los Angeles, there will be 12 of them, but the maximum possible quota for any country at the Olympic Games-2028 remained the same - 6 people (3 men and 3 women), and no more than one athlete in each weight category. That is, no country can compete for all the medals of the American coinage, which is explained by the desire to avoid the syndrome of “globalization of champions”. But the IWF flouts the sporting principle. And about the most complex system of qualification for the Games, when it is necessary, even without speaking, to come to the competition, and there is nothing to say.

But that's what it is! You have to accept the rules of the iron game. Fortunately, we traditionally have elite athletes who are able to return from China with awards. Concretize in the bar - more expensive. But Belarusians on the platform in Ningbo will definitely not be extras. Belarusian wrestlers brilliantly performed at the youth world championship. From Las Vegas, our athletes brought two gold and one silver medal. World champions among young people were Abubakar Khaslakhanov (up to 97 kg, Greco-Roman wrestling) and Arina Demchenko (up to 57 kg). The second place in weight up to 68 kg was taken by Ksenia Terenya. In total, more than 600 athletes played at the tournament in the United States, who played 30 sets of awards.