Iryna Kurachkina

Iryna Kurachkina
Kurachkina in 2021
Personal information
Born (1994-06-17) 17 June 1994 (age 30)
Kruhlaye, Belarus
Sport
CountryBelarus
SportAmateur wrestling
Weight class57 kg
EventFreestyle
Medal record
Women's freestyle wrestling
Representing Individual Neutral Athletes
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2024 Bucharest 57 kg
Representing  Belarus
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo 57 kg
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Paris 55 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Nur-Sultan 57 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Tirana 55 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Kaspiysk 55 kg
Gold medal – first place 2021 Warsaw 57 kg
Silver medal – second place 2016 Riga 53 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Rome 57 kg
Individual World Cup
Gold medal – first place 2020 Belgrade 55 kg
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Minsk 57 kg
Yasar Dogu Tournament
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Istanbul 57 kg
World U23 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 Bydgoszcz 55 kg

Iryna Alyaksandrauna Kurachkina (Belarusian: Ірына Аляксандраўна Курачкіна; born 17 June 1994) is a Belarusian freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the women's 57 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.[1] Kurachkina is also a two-time bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships and a five-time medalist, including three golds, at the European Wrestling Championships. She also won the gold medal in her event at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus.

Career

Kurachkina competed in the women's 51 kg event at the 2013 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.[2] In March 2016, she won the silver medal in the women's 53 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Riga, Latvia.[3] The next month, Kurachkina competed in the qualification tournament held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia hoping to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[4] She did not advance far as she was eliminated in her first match.[4]

At the 2017 World U23 Wrestling Championship held in Bydgoszcz, Poland, she won the silver medal in the women's 55 kg event.[5] Kurachkina also won one of the bronze medals in the women's 55 kg event at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships held in Paris, France.[6] In 2018, she competed in the women's freestyle event of the 2018 Wrestling World Cup. A few months later, Kurachkina won the gold medal in the women's 55 kg event at the 2018 European Wrestling Championships held in Kaspiysk, Dagestan, Russia.[7] Later that year, she competed in the women's 57 kg event at the 2018 World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary where she was eliminated in her first match.[8]

At the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus, Kurachkina won the gold medal in the women's 57 kg event.[9][10] In the final, she defeated Mimi Hristova of Bulgaria.[9] At the 2019 World Wrestling Championships held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, Kurachkina won one of the bronze medals in the women's 57 kg event.[11][12] She qualified at this competition to represent Belarus at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.[13]

In 2020, Kurachkina won the gold medal by defeating Annika Wendle of Germany in the final of the women's 55 kg event at the Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia.[14][15] In 2021, she won the gold medal in the 57 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Warsaw, Poland.[16][17] A few months later, Kurachkina won the silver medal in her event at the 2021 Poland Open held in Warsaw, Poland.[18][19]

With a bronze medal and a third place win at the 2019 World Wrestling Championships, Kurachkina qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the number #3 seed. In Kurachkina's Olympic debut, she defeated, reigning Asian Champion, India's Anshu Malik by the score 8-2 after going all six-minutes; Kurachkina then went on to win 6-3 over 2016 Olympic Silver medalist, Valeria Koblova, representing the ROC, which would give Kurachkina a place in the semi-final.[20] Opposing Kurachkina in the semi-final was unseeded Evelina Nikolova, who Kurachkina defeated by 11-0 technical superiority.

In 2022, she won one of the bronze medals in the 57 kg event at the Yasar Dogu Tournament held in Istanbul, Turkey.[21]

Kurachkina won the gold medal in the 57 kg event at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania.[22][23] In the final, she defeated Evelina Nikolova of Bulgaria.[23] She competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan and she earned a quota place for the Individual Neutral Athletes for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[24] Kurachkina was not invited to compete at the Olympics and Alina Hrushyna of Ukraine competed in her place instead.[25]

Achievements

Year Tournament Location Result Event
2016 European Championships Riga, Latvia 2nd Freestyle 53 kg
2017 World Championships Paris, France 3rd Freestyle 55 kg
2018 European Championships Kaspiysk, Russia 1st Freestyle 55 kg
2019 European Games Minsk, Belarus 1st Freestyle 57 kg
World Championships Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan 3rd Freestyle 57 kg
2020 European Championships Rome, Italy 3rd Freestyle 57 kg
2021 European Championships Warsaw, Poland 1st Freestyle 57 kg
Summer Olympics Tokyo, Japan 2nd Freestyle 57 kg
2024 European Championships Bucharest, Romania 1st Freestyle 57 kg

References

  1. ^ "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  2. ^ "2013 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). fila-official.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  3. ^ "2016 European Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b "2016 World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 January 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. ^ Giles, Thomas (23 November 2017). "Victories all round for Japanese wrestlers in women's event at Under-23 World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  6. ^ "2017 World Wrestling Championships" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  7. ^ "2018 European Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  8. ^ "2018 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  9. ^ a b "2019 European Games Wrestling Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  10. ^ Gillen, Nancy (28 June 2019). "Italian Olympic champions claim mixed team shotgun skeet silver and gold at Minsk 2019". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  11. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (19 September 2019). "Gray edges Minagawa to earn fifth women's title at World Wrestling Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  12. ^ "2019 World Wrestling Championships Results" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  13. ^ "Iryna Kurachkina wins bronze, Olympic berth at 2019 World Wrestling Championships". eng.belta.by. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  14. ^ Iveson, Ali (16 December 2020). "All-conquering Tynybekova wins 62kg gold at UWW Individual World Cup". InsideTheGames.biz. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  15. ^ "2020 Individual Wrestling World Cup Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  16. ^ Berkeley, Geoff (23 April 2021). "Ukraine bag brace of women's wrestling golds at European Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  17. ^ "2021 European Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  18. ^ Rowbottom, Mike (11 June 2021). "Adekuoroye scatters Rio 2016 medallists en route to gold at UWW Poland Open". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  19. ^ "2021 Poland Open Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  20. ^ Vinay. "Three Rio Champions Remain on Course to Do Olympic Double". United World Wrestling. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  21. ^ "2022 Yasar Dogu, Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan Tournament Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 March 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  22. ^ Khalatyan, Rafael (17 February 2024). "Bucharest 2024 Day 5: Ukraine wins team title in women's wrestling". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 22 February 2024.
  23. ^ a b "2024 European Wrestling Championships Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  24. ^ "2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament Results Book" (PDF). United World Wrestling. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  25. ^ "Wrestling Results Book" (PDF). 2024 Summer Olympics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
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