Olympic champions from Yakutia support mas-wrestling!

The decision to hold the above tournament was made back in December last year by a collegial decision of the IMF Conference.

The delegation included:

Lena Tomskaya – IMWF vice-president, head of the delegation;

Ermolaev Egor – international category mas-wrestling judge;

Anufrieva Aina-Katerina – Chief Secretary;

Agafy Fedorov – translator.

Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling Pavel Pinigin has been invited as an honorary guest of the international tournament. For him, the visit to Canada has special meaning. After all, it was here, in Montreal in 1976, that Yakutians Roman Dmitriev, Pavel Pinigin and Alexander Ivanov performed triumphantly on the wrestling mat.

We are all well aware that the first Olympian from Yakutia, Roman Dmitriev, was at the origins of the development of mas-wrestling in Russia and the world. He came up with a name for the new sport, adding the Yakut word “mas” to the native concept of “wrestling” and put a lot of effort into achieving its legal recognition.

Today his follower Pavel Pinigin takes the baton. Isn’t this the most significant support when such legends of world sports demonstrate their commitment to the original Yakut sport? We can proudly declare to the whole world: “Our Olympic champions are leading mas-wrestling forward - to the Olympic heights!”