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4 hours ago 9/21/07
BAKU, Azerbaijan - Canadian Carol Huynh lost in the bronze-medal bout of the
women's 48-kilogram class at the world wrestling championships Friday while
Russia capped its dominant performance in the men's freestyle competition with
two more golds.
Huynh, a native of Hazelton, B.C., who won a gold medal at the Pan American
Games in Brazil in July, lost 3-4, 4-1, 1-1 to Mayelis Caripa-Castillo of
Venezuela in the bronze-medal match to end up in fifth spot.
Chiharu Icho of Japan took gold over Olympic champion Irina Merleni of
Ukraine with a 1-0, 0-1, 2-0 win.
"I was counting on winning here like never before in my life," said Merlini,
who missed two seasons after having a child. "I'm really disappointed."
In the men's event, Kadzhimurat Gatsalov and Bilyal Makhov captured gold
medals as Russia won six of seven events.
Russia, which also won one bronze medal, captured the team freestyle title
with 68 points.
Two-time defending world champion Gatsalov won his third consecutive title,
beating Saeid Abrahimi of Iran 1-0, 2-0 in the 96-kilogram category.
American Daniel Cormier won a bronze medal over Alexey Krupnyakov of Belarus
1-0, 0-1, 1-0.
"My key task in every bout is not give my opponent a single chance to win,"
Gatsalov said. "I still can create something new and surprise my opponents."
David Zilberman of Montreal, Canada's top male performer at the 2006
championships with a fifth-place showing, finished 14th.
In the 120-kilogram class, Makhov, who turned 20 on Thursday, marked his
world championship debut with a 1-0, 1-0 victory over Valera Rodriguez of
Cuba.
"Today, I'm going to celebrate three occasions - my first gold medal, my
birthday and our team's victory," Makhov said.
Arjan Bhullar of Vancouver of was 27th.
The championships wrap up with remaining women's events on weekend.
-With files from The Canadian Press
Last Updated: Friday, September 21, 2007 | 8:47 PM ET
Canadian Carol Huynh failed in her attempt to win a bronze medal at the world
wrestling championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Hazelton, B.C., native lost 3-4, 4-1, 1-1 to Mayelis Caripa-Castillo of
Venezuela in the women's 48-kilogram class to finish fifth.
Huynh captured a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Brazil in July.
Japan's Chiharu Icho of Japan won gold over Olympic champion Irini Merleni of
Ukraine with a 1-0, 0-1, 2-0 victory.
"I was counting on winning here like never before in my life," said Merleni,
who missed two seasons after having a child. "I'm really disappointed."
Katie Downing Team USA
09/21/2007
A lot of things happened at the same time today. Stephanie
battled all day long to earn fifth place this year. Jenny, Marcie, and Leigh
have all weighed in, and the rest of us have done our usual weight maintenance.
It was all about cardio this afternoon for me. I felt really good, so I
was rockin to my music, and absolutely annihilating my opponents in my mind. I
look forward to tomorrow because a lot of the waiting game will be over for me,
and because we’ll have three of our women ready to fight for their chance to
stand on the tallest box.
Jenny is always a contender, and she stepped
up for us when we needed her. Marcie will be exciting to watch because she’s
really taken her wrestling to the next level this year. Leigh’s style is part
explosive and part funk, which should make for some good scrambles
tomorrow.
Speaking of Leigh, let’s talk about her packing skills. I pride
myself in my ability to pack light, and to make my favorite full sized pillow
disappear into my carry on bag, but Leigh takes it to a higher level all
together. She packs how Mary Poppins would pack if she had rolling luggage. In
Poland, Leigh brought a full sized coffee maker with the 12-cup carafe, a
hammer, an umbrella, and still had room for several pairs of dress shoes!
Patrick Borkowski is our strength and conditioning coach at the Olympic
Training Center, and he’s been at our mat workouts at the venue. I like having
him here. He sets the standard pretty high for us at home. Plus he’s a
competitive guy, and I feed off of his attitude.
Speaking of competitive
people, Sara McMann started running on the treadmill as I hit the bike. Then the
Chinese girl from her weight got on the treadmill next to her. I thought to
myself, ‘Ohhhh, this could get interesting!’ I happen to know Sara very well,
and I also happen to know that running can get her aggressive juices flowing as
much as wrestling can. At that point, I knew that Sara could either be smart, or
she could begin a sprint-fest to the death. It was up in the air there for five
to ten minutes, but Sara finally chose to be smart. She hopped on the bike next
to mine, let the Beatles sing her back into a good mood, and forgot about her
opponent until it matters.
Thursday, Sept. 20
When I told
people where Worlds were this year, many said something like, “Azebawhat?”
Azerbaijan is at the northern end of what used to be known as Persia, and the
southern end of what used to be the Soviet Union, which means Baku is right at a
crossroads between East and West. There is Georgia and Russia to the north,
Turkey and Europe to the West, Iran and the Middle East to the south, and the
Caspian Sea to the East. Rocky hills rise near the Caspian, and lots of sand and
dirt constantly blow in the sea winds. I’m thinking that a few people have a lot
in this country, and that it comes from the several oil rin00101.jpgigs we can see out in
the Caspian from our hotel rooms. A lot of people have very little here, but
take care of what they have. We see swarms of school boys and girls walking to
school during our bus ride, and their white dress shirts are all impeccable.
Today is when it all starts for real. Stephanie Murata has weighed in,
and will have had a fulfilling dinner by now I’m sure. I don’t know what she had
for dinner, but I know that she brought a hand-held blender with her, and she’s
been making tasty looking frozen fruit smoothies lately. We’ll have a meeting
tonight to cover final plans for Steph as she prepares herself for competition
tomorrow, and to set the schedule for the rest of us as well. Tomorrow will be
the busiest day of the whole trip because Steph will be doing her best and
getting the momentum started on the mat for us, the next three weight classes
will work out and weigh in, and the rest of us will get our mat workout and
cardio as usual.
Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to mention that Sally now
has a cow bell (of course she does!) that she bought at the airport in Zurich on
the way over here. It’s hanging on her gym bag, so now we always know where she
is as we move from place to place as a group. The Iranians have their horns
(dee-deedeedee-dee-dee-Iran, is what we hear all day). The Azerbaijanis have a
drum section accompanied by what looks and sounds like snake charmer flutes. We
have our quite vocal and energetic training partners . . . and a cow
bell.
