Frank Chamizo
Italian freestyle wrestler (born 1992) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Italian freestyle wrestler (born 1992) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank Chamizo Marquez (born 10 July 1992) is a Cuban-Italian freestyle wrestler who competes at 74 kilograms. Starting his career in Cuba, Chamizo became a World Cup champion, World Championship medalist, and Pan American champion at 55 kilograms in 2010 and 2011 before immigrating to Italy in 2011[1][2] Since then, Chamizo became the greatest Italian wrestler of all time,[3][4] racking up two World Championships (in 2015 at 65kg and 2017 at 70kg, plus a silver medal in 2019), an Olympic bronze medal in 2016, an Individual World Cup silver medal, a European Games silver medal, four European Championships, and others.[5]
Chamizo is also known for his rivalry with seven-time Olympic and World champion Jordan Burroughs, against whom he has gone 2–4, but winning the last match.[6]
Chamizo had a trying childhood. He grew up in poverty and was raised by his grandmother because both his parents lived abroad.[7] He began wrestling at age seven after walking into a wrestling facility out of curiosity.[7] The Cuban government eventually recognized his talent and helped him attend a secondary school where he could continue wrestling.[1] In addition to his native Spanish, Chamizo is fluent in Italian and can also speak English.[citation needed]
In 2010, Chamizo won a world bronze medal for Cuba; he was only 18 at the time. The next year, he returned to the world championships, where he placed 12th. After the 2011 World Wrestling Championships, however, Cuba's wrestling federation suspended him for two years for alleged difficulties with weight management.[7] At a crossroads, he moved to Italy, where his ex-wife is from.[citation needed]
In 2015, Chamizo made his world debut for Italy and won a gold medal. Before then, no Italian had won a world or Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medal since 1980.
From there, Chamizo won three more world-level medals, including a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and a gold medal at the 2017 world competition. Overall, Chamizo won four world-level medals for Italy and two world-level championships.
At the 2022 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, he won the bronze medal by defeating Soner Demirtaş 5-3 in the men's freestyle 74 kg third-place match, but his medal was canceled due to doping and given to Soner Demirtaş. He was only suspended for three months.[8]
He won the silver medal at the 2023 European Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, losing 3-1 to Tajmuraz Salkazanov of Slovakia in the men's freestyle 74 kg final match. He reached the final by defeating Dzhabrail Gadzhiev of Azerbaijan 9-4 in the second round, Soner Demirtaş 8-6 in the quarterfinals, and Ali-Pasha Umarpashaev of Bulgaria 9-0 in the semifinals.[9]
Chamizo competed at the 2024 European Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan hoping to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[10] He was eliminated in his fourth match and he did not qualify for the Olympics due to controversial judging.[10] Several days later Chamizo claimed he was offered a bribe of 300 thousand dollars to deliberately lose a match, an offer that he rejected.[11] Weeks after the tournament, the refereeing body that officiated the match were suspended by the UWW, however, the result could not be changed.[12]
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