According to Mehr reporter, Ali Sawadkohi was considered one of the 86 kg contenders with his brilliance in the league matches, so that some believed that if Hassan Yazdani could not return to the field due to shoulder surgery, Sawadkohi is an option that can be used to participate in the Olympics. He counted on him.
Swadekohi is the only Iranian wrestler who managed to defeat Jordan Burroughs, the holder of 6 world golds and one Olympic gold from the United States, in the finals of the 2022 American World Cup, ending the invincibility spell of this wrestler. In the championship of the country, which was considered the first selection cycle of the national team, Sawadkohi went well until the final stage, but in the last 40 seconds of this tournament, he lost the result against Vafaipour, the Hamadani wrestler, and while he was ahead with a score of 4 to 0, this wrestler with the result of 6-4.
Swadekohi’s misfortunes did not end there, he did not appear on the podium at the ceremony of awarding the runner-up medal, and this caused the disqualification of this wrestler. Of course, according to himself, he had a doctor’s appointment and went to the hospital, but this issue was not approved by the wrestling federation, and Swadekohi was not invited to the national team list after failing in the final stage and not being on the podium.
In an interview with Mehr reporter, Swadekohi said: I was not invited to the national team camp and I think it is useless to talk about it. I was physically injured and was injured in the leg and neck area. But the most important issue was my weight condition.
He continued: “I was underweight in this tournament, and considering that two weeks before the national championship, I wrestled at 79 kg in the league and had lost weight, my body had not recovered, so I was not fully prepared for 86 kg.”
Swadekohi said: I think the opportunity still exists and I hope that next time I wrestle with better preparation and these incidents will not happen again.
In response to the question whether he had gone to the hospital at the time of the medal presentation, he said: I had a doctor’s appointment due to my injuries, and that’s why I went to the hospital at the time of the medal presentation to take a photo and MRI.
In response to not being invited to the national team camp, Swadekohi said: Anyway, the decision-maker is the technical staff, they definitely don’t need me because I wasn’t invited to the national team camp.