A viral picture from the European Youth Wrestling Championship that started today: six Chechens will compete for the French team. This is 100% of the squad, there is not a single other athlete in the team.
How did it happen?
• All six Chechen wrestlers were either born in France or moved there at an early age.None of them ever played for the Russian national team and did not change sports citizenship.
•French wrestlers are far from extras and have real chances for awards.The most titled – Khamzat Arsamerzuev in weight up to 61 kg (pictured).
Last year, at a similar tournament, he already took silver, was third at the youth world championship and 7th at the adult. 20-year-old Rakhim Magamadov in weight up to 80 kg has the title of European champion among juniors, and heavyweight Adlan Viskhanov finished third at the same tournament.
• France has a traditionally large Chechen diaspora (plus or minus 30,000 people in recent years).
Yes, and Chechen wrestlers have long been familiar to the national team. The most famous is Zelimkhan Khadzhiev , two-time winner of the European Championships and participant in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. He was born in the Chechen village of Solnechnoye, but at the age of 10 he ended up in France with his family.
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