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Former World Champion Stevan Micic pulls out of Paris Olympics 2024 before the commencement of wrestling events due to injury
In a major jolt to Serbia's aspirations, defending world champion wrestler Stevan Micic has pulled out of the 2024 Paris Olympics before the men's freestyle events begin this week. The American-born Serbian wrestler took to Instagram to announce his decision.
Micic said:
"After much thought and Prayer, It's very sad for me to say that I am unable to compete in the Paris Olympic Games. A few weeks ago, I suffered a knee injury during the practice. As training for the competition intensified, the injury worsened, which limited my ability to prepare at the highest level necessary to compete and achieve the results that I know I'm capable of.
"The doctors told me that if I want to continue wrestling, I must get reconstructive surgery. I do not have any other option than to bypass competing in the Paris Olympics, regroup, get an operation, and begin the recovery process."
Micic, who originally hails from Cedar Lake, Indiana, once represented the United States of America at the junior level and won a bronze medal for the USA at the Junior World Championships held in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil in 2015. He competes in the 57kg freestyle wrestling category.
Micic later moved to Serbia and by 2018 was winning medals for the country, having won at the European Games and the Mediterranean Games. However, he made his presence felt at the global level when he first won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Top contenders for the gold medal at the Paris Olympics after Stevan Micic's withdrawal
Stevan Micic had surprised everyone by defeating Rei Higuchi of Japan in the finals of the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. With this, he secured a direct qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
However, with Micic's sudden withdrawal and with the previous two finalists Zaur Uguev from Russia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya of India out of contention, here are some of the contenders for an Olympic gold medal in the men's 57kg freestyle wrestling event at the Paris Olympics.
Spencer Lee (USA)
Spencer Lee won two consecutive Junior World Championships, in 2015 and 2016. However, recurring injuries forced Lee out of contention from 2019 onward until he stepped back into the arena in 2022.
With Micic out of contention, Lee is now one of the top bets for an Olympic gold medal, having defeated Olympic bronze medalist and former world champion Thomas Gilman twice during the Olympic trials.
Aman Sehrawat (India)
A two-time bronze medalist at the World Cadet Championships, Aman Sehrawat is one of the dark horses in this category.
The Indian grappler won the Junior World Championships in 2022 before he switched to the senior category. He even managed to win a bronze medal at the Asian Games last year and overcame the likes of former World Championship medalist Andriy Yatsenko from Ukraine to book a ticket to the Paris Olympics at the Olympic qualifiers held in Istanbul, Turkey.
Sehrawat recently won a gold medal at the 2024 Zagreb Grand Prix.
Rei Higuchi (Japan)
A silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, Rei Higuchi is one of the top contenders for an Olympic gold medal.
A former junior world champion, Higuchi had put up a tough fight before losing in the finals to Micic at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships. With the Serbian wrestler out of the equation, it's now or never for the Japanese grappler.
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