Greco Roman Wrestling is one of the hardest sports known to man and only the strongest, most focused and best technical wrestlers are the ones to raise their hand and hold gold in their hands.
Russia has a very successful history in Greco Roman Wrestling having some of the best Greco Roman Wrestlers of all time such as the great Alexandr Karelin. Russia had been looking for someone to take the place of Alexandr Karelin for years after his retirement and they did find a person to pass the torch to, the Greco Roman Wrestler named Roman Vlasov.
Who is Roman Vlasov
Born in Novosibirsk, Russia on October 6th, 1990, Roman Andreevich Vlasov grew up in a tough era in modern Russian history. The USSR had fallen and Russia was going through terribly difficult times economically with many families finding it hard to put food on the table and unfortunately the Vlasov family like many Russian families were affected heavily by these hard times.
Roman’s father had left when Roman was 2 years old, leaving his mother alone to take care of the family. She was a strong willed woman, having worked 3 jobs to help put food on the table.
When did Roman Vlasov Start Wrestling
Roman started wrestling in 1997 at the age of 6 when his brother Artyom brought Roman to wrestle at the Dynamo Novosibirsk club, the wrestling school of the famous and honoured coach Viktor Mikhailovich Kuznetsov, who just happened to the coach of the best Greco Wrestler of all time – Alexandr Karelin.
Upon joining Dynamo Novosibirsk, Roman would start learning how to wrestle with the coach Vyacheslav Viktorovich Rodenko. In 2002 Roman started to be coached by Viktor Mikhailovich Kuznetsov and began his path to Greco Roman Wrestling mastery.
Perhaps wrestling ran in the blood of Roman as his brother Artyom Vlasov is also a master of sport in Greco-Roman Wrestling as a 2 time gold medalist of the Russian National Youth Championship in Greco Roman Wrestling.
Vlasov’s wrestling style is highly technical and explosive. Vlasov is known for having a very strong character and is extremely focused in each match, bringing a very strong mental characteristic into the sport which has enabled him to compete and win at the very highest levels of the sport. Roman Vlasov is well known for big throws, intense hand fighting and world class par terre. He has developed and is well known for a technique called the Roman Vlasov Straight Lift which he constantly uses to lift opponents from par terre straight into a standing throwing position with a high scoring throw to follow.
A Mentally Strong Greco Roman Wrestler
Vlasov suffered a career threatening injury in 2008 in which doctor’s were sure it would be the end of his wrestling career. Vlasiv would hear none of it and devoted all his time to recovery and rehabilitation from the injury in which he was successful, he would return to wrestle and win at the Greco Roman Wrestling’s highest level once again.
One of the key characteristics Vlasov exhibits is his ability to pick himself up and improve after a loss. Having won a gold medal in all major tournaments, Vlasov has found himself losing at times in big tournaments only to get back to training harder and returning to win gold time and time again.
What Has Roman Vlasov Won in Wrestling
Vlasov is no stranger to success in Greco Roman Wrestling as he has a long history of winning the best tournaments in the world and representing Russia for years as their best Greco Roman Wrestler.
Roman Vlasov’s Major Cadet and Junior Wrestling Achievements
Roman first taste of a major wrestling victory was when he won the Alexsandr Karelin prize at an international youth tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In 2006, Roman also won the European Youth Greco Roman Wrestling Championship.
In 2007 Roman won once again the European Youth Greco Roman Wrestling Championship in Warsaw, Poland. Roman also received the title of Master of Sports in the Russian Federation.
2010 would see Roman once again on the podium holding gold at the World Youth Greco Roman Wrestling Championship in Budapest, Hungary. Roman would also receive Master of Sports International Class in the Russian Federation.
Roman Vlasov’s Major Senior Level Wrestling Achievements
2011 would be a big year for Vlasov as he started to compete at the Senior Level, Vlasov would win a Bronze at the European Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. The big win would be at the Greco Roman World Championships in Istanbul where Vlasov would go on to win Gold. This would be the year that Vlasov would receive the title of Honored Master of Sports of the Russian Federation – the highest title an athlete can recieve in Russia.
2012 would be the Year that Vlasov proved he was the best of the best, he went on to win the Gold medal in Greco Roman Wrestling at the 2012 Olympic games in London England, now Roman would not own an Olympic Gold Medal but he would own the start of a true wrestling legacy.
In 2013 Roman would go on to win a Gold at the European Championships in Tbilisi, a Gold at the World Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia and a Silver at the Greco Roman World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
2015 would be the year Roman would win Gold again at the Senior World Championships and be a huge year as it would propel him for the Olympic year to come and propel him would it truly do as in 2016, Roman goes on to win his 2nd Gold Medal in Greco Roman Wrestling at the Olympic Games in Rio and now the legacy of Roman Vlasov is set in stone.
In 2019, Roman won the gold medal at the Greco Roman European Championships in Bucharest, Romania as well as in 2020, Roman won the Gold Medal at the Individual Wrestling World Cup in Belgrade, Serbia.
A Man of True Character
One thing is always apparent when speaking of Roman Vlasov, he is a true man of character, never making excuses for losses and always being honest when speaking.
Roman got married in 2019 to another Russian Olympian, Violetta Kolobova who was a bronze medalist in the sport of fencing in the 2016 Olympics, a true Olympic level couple, they happily live together in Novosibirsk Russia where Roman trains in preparation for his next Greco Roman competition wherever it may be.
In Conclusion
When we speak about Roman Vlasov we actually have 2 stories, one of the wrestler and one of his coach.
To win a major tournament in Greco Roman Wrestling is one of the hardest athletic feats in the world but to win tournaments one after another, time and time again in dominant fashion proves that you are the best of the best.
In the story of the wrestler, we see that Roman Vlasov has done that and so much more as he always won each tournament in dominant fashion but he always presented himself with honor and composure when representing his homeland, Russia.
In the story of Roman Vlasov’s coach, Viktor Mikhailovich Kuznetsov, we see the unimaginable, we see a world class coach once again create a world class wrestler in Vlasov, only to prove that the Viktor Kuznetsov is one of the best wrestling coaches of all time having coached the 2 of the best Greco Roman Wrestling champions of all time, Aleksandr Karelin and Roman Vlasov.
Vlasov is one of the best Russian wrestlers and Greco Roman wrestlers of all time and will continue to help build the sport of wrestling both nationally and internationally for future generations to come.
