Elias Kuosmanen, 28, has won the international Greco-Roman wrestling tournament in the 130-kilogram category in Antalya, Turkey.
Elias Kuosmanen got a submission victory in the final, when the Iranian reigning world champion of the series Amin Mirzazadeh had to give up due to injury.
In the semi-finals, Kuosmanen beat another Iranian, Fardin Heday with a score of 4–3.
Before that, the wrestler representing Helsinki Haka had defeated Kazakhstan in the equalization round by Mansur Shadukaev 5–0 and Kyrgyzstan in the quarterfinals by Roman Kim 8–0.
Kuosmanen, a wrestler aiming for his second Olympics, has had to spend the beginning of the year recovering from an ankle injury and has been training for the spring Olympic qualifiers with an applied program.
Olympic coach Juha Lappalainen liked what he saw.
– A successful finishing race from Elias, the wrestling looked good and the speed is there. Three weeks from now, Baku will be wrestling for the Olympic spots in Paris, so maintaining this level of performance will go a long way, Lappalainen noted.
The European Olympic qualifying tournament will be held on the 5th-7th. April in Baku, Azerbaijan. The last Olympic spots for Paris will be awarded at the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament from 9 to 12. May in Istanbul, Turkey.
Kuosmanen has won two adult EC bronze medals in his career.
On Friday, the tournament in Turkey will be wrestling, among other things, in the 77 kilogram series, in which Finns will participate Jonni Sarkkinen and Mikko Peltokangas.
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