News

George wins silver in World Wrestling Championships
Date Posted: 9/22/2003

By Tim Hipps
USACFSC Public Affairs

NEW YORK – Army Pfc. Tina George considers her second consecutive silver-medal performance in the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling Sept. 12-14 at Madison Square Garden the first step in her quest for Olympic gold next summer at Athens, Greece.

This battered Army of One departed the world's most famous arena facing one rugged road to the birthplace of the world's most famous Games after securing a spot for the United States in the 55-kilogram division of the 2004 Summer Olympics, where women's wrestling will be contested for the first time.

After winning five consecutive matches in overpowering fashion, George, a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program at Fort Carson, Colo., lost 5-2 to the ultra-quick hands of two-time world champion Saori Yoshida of Japan in the 121-pound final Sunday night.

Yoshida’s lightning-quick lunges to grab George’s ankles led to five one-point takedowns.

“That particular move was something I wasn’t prepared for,” George said as she wiped tears of disappointment from her face. “Obviously I wasn’t as focused as I thought I was. I’m usually pretty good in that position – defending a single leg – but I just didn’t do well in that position in this particular match.”

The bloody match was stopped three times after both wrestlers swatted each other in the eye and for trainers to tend George’s mat burn on the side of her cheek, which opened and oozed during the finale.

George opened like gangbusters and took a 1-0 lead in the first 20 seconds with a takedown. After one three-minute period, Yoshida led 2-1.

In the second period, George quickly pulled into a 2-2 tie at the 3:19 mark. Yoshida then registered three one-point takedowns as gold slipped from George’s grasp and her shattered dream ended in a pool of tears.

In hindsight, George, 24, a carpentry/masonry specialist from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, felt she did her best against the two-time world champ.

“I don’t think at this point I would change anything about the way I wrestled,” she said in a post-match press conference. “I wanted to be the best in the United States and I just wanted to show what the United States has to offer. This is just another step to getting to our Olympic dream.”

George secured an Olympic berth for the United States’ 121-pound women by finishing among the top five in the world before a supportive crowd of 12,757. Individuals will qualify for Team USA in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Trials May 21-23 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

Shon Lewis, coach of the Army World Class Athlete Program wrestling team, thinks George will continue to improve.

“She closed the gap on the same girl she lost to in the final last year,” he said. “In the middle of the match she started thinking about what she should do instead of reacting and keeping her motion, but I think this is just going to be a steppingstone for her winning the grand finale in the Olympics in Greece.”

George dominated her division until the finals. She opened with a convincing 9-3 victory over Bulgaria’s Julieta Okot, who recently spent several weeks training with George at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

In Friday’s second session, George pinned Moldova’s Ludmila Christea in 2:36. On Saturday morning, she posted a 10-2 victory over Elvira Rasulova-Mursalova of Kyrgyzstan.

That night, George grappled to a challenging 7-3, quarterfinal victory over Puerto Rico’s Mabel Fonsoca, who defeated George in the 1999 U.S. National Championships.

“I’ve been holding onto that loss for four years,” said George, who received extra inspiration from a group of cadets from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

“I could see them cheering up in the stands – a whole big section of cadets in white uniforms,” she said. “They were going nuts. I went up and met them before my match.”

The cadets attended the event when they heard an Army wrestler would be competing, said George.

“That meant a lot to me,” she said.

On Sunday morning, George prevailed 4-3 after a scoreless first period over muscle-bound Sun Dongmei of China to earn a shot at the world champion.

For six sessions, the World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling drew 53,665 fans to Madison Square Garden.

“It meant so much to have so many people cheering for us, some of whom I’m sure never had seen women wrestle before,” said George, who by this time next year hopes to set the world on its ear by turning people on to women’s wrestling.”

One day later, she embarked on another mission.

“Today marks the first day of my new competitive year,” George said Monday. “I’m out to win an Olympic gold.”

Contact Person: Tim.Hipps@cfsc.army.mil