Who is the Best Woman Wrestler Ever?

Photo credit: Herald & News (text added)

guest writer Shannyn Gillespie
IG: @coachshannyntalks
Twitter: @coachshannyn

This question (or idea) has made many people, in many different sports make list after list ad nauseum…  Well, we will take a concentrated look at some of the best women wrestlers who have competed in the World Championships & Olympic Games and let you decide.  Important to this discussion, is that the Worlds were first competed for women in 1987 and the first Olympics for women was 2004. Also relevant, some wrestlers were fortunate and had the opportunity to compete in both competitions...

Olympic Games
Kaori Icho (JPN) is the only wrestler on the planet to win the Olympic Games 4 times!  This feat alone could make her arguably the best wrestler ever.  Icho also won an amazing 10 World Championships.  She competed at 63kg for her first 3 Olympic Golds and 58kg for her final Olympic Crown.

Saori Yoshida (JPN), and her former college teammate above, also won the Olympic Games 3 times.  She won a silver medal in the Rio Olympic Games falling to Olympic Champion Helen Maroulis (USA).  What makes her a contender for the title is her 13 World Championship gold medals. In fact, Yoshida won all of the Worlds she competed in from 2002-2015 (11 of them were consecutive!).  She competed at 55kg for most of her Golds and at 53kg in Rio.

Irina Melnik-Merleni (UKR) is an Olympic Champion & Olympic bronze medalist.  In her third Olympic Games, she fell to Clarissa Chun (USA) in the bronze medal match.  Merleni (as she was known) was a 3X World Champion and also won 2 silver medals at Worlds.  She won all her medals at 46kg & 48kg.
Natalya Vorobieva (RUS) is an Olympic Champion & Olympic silver medalist.  She is a 2X World champion (2015 & 2019) also winning bronze & silver medals at Worlds.  Vorobieva was named United World Wrestling Comeback Wrestler of the Year in 2019 after taking a 2.6 year break after her Rio Olympic Gold to give birth to her first child.  She competed at 69kg & 72kg.

Carol Huynh (CAN) is an Olympic Champion & Olympic bronze medalist.  Never a world champion, Huynh won 4 World Championship medals while competing in 8 Worlds altogether.  She competed at 46 & 48kg.

Mariya Stadnik (AZE) is a 3X Olympic medalist winning 2 silvers & 1 bronze.  Stadnik is also a 2X World Champion who won 3 silver medals & 1 bronze medal at Worlds.  Stadnik’s first world title was in 2009 and her last world title was in 2019! She competed at 48kg & 50kg.

Tonya Verbeek (CAN) is a 3X Olympic medalist winning 2 silvers & 1 bronze - falling twice to Yoshida (2004 & 2012) in the Olympic gold medal match.  Verbeek was somewhat of an overachiever at the Olympics when considering her 7 World Championships appearances where she won 3 medals. All of her Olympic & World medals were won at 55kg although Verbeek competed at 57kg & 59kg too.

Gouzel Manyurova (KAZ & RUS) is a 3X Olympic medalist winning 2 silvers & 1 bronze.  Earlier in her career, Manyurova wrestled 3 Worlds for Russia and won 1 bronze medal.  Later in her career, Manyurova wrestled 4 Worlds for Kazakhstan and won 1 silver medal.  Manyurova is another example of being an overachiever at the Olympic Games. She competed at 72kg & 75kg winning Olympic medals for both countries.

Zlateva Hristova Stanka (BUL) is a 2X Olympic silver medalist.  In her first (third overall) Olympic Games, Stanka placed 12th. She is also a 5X World Champion and competed in 11 Worlds total.  Stanka competed at 67-75kg.

Chiharu Icho (JPN) is a 2X Olympic silver medalist and older sister of Kaori Icho.  Chiharu is also a 3X World Champion and a silver medalist at the Worlds. She attended Chukyo Women's University (Shigakkan University) and was a college team member with Yoshida, Icho.  Chiharu competed at 48kg & 51kg.

Kyoko Hamaguchi (JPN) is a 2X Olympic bronze medalist and competed at 3 Olympic Games.  Hamaguchi is a 5X World Champion who competed in 15 Worlds! She also won 2 silver & 3 bronze medals at the Worlds.  Hamaguchi is a contender for the best woman wrestler ever due to her longevity at the Olympic Games & World Championships.  She competed at 70-75kg.

Jackeline Castillo Renteria (COL) is a 2X Olympic bronze medalist and competed at 3 Olympic Games.  Renteria was also an overachiever at the Olympic Games due to her 9 World Championships appearances and 1 medal won there.  She won her Olympic medals at 55kg & her World bronze medal at 63kg. Renteria competed at 55-63kg. 

World Championships
Hitomi Obara Sakamoto (JPN) is an Olympic Champion and is in this category because she made 1 Olympic team.  Sakamoto was an 8X World Champion and makes an argument for the best woman wrestler ever for these reasons… Her weight class (51kg) was never in the Olympic Games and she won every world championships she entered.  Sakamoto battled country-women Chiharu Icho for almost a decade at 51kg. Both Sakamoto & Chiharu are World Champions at 48kg and 51kg during the same time periods.  Actually, when her sister, Makiko Sakamoto (2 World medals, 4 World appearances at 48kg) retired she went down to 48kg and won 2 World Golds plus Olympic Gold!

Yayoi Urango (JPN) is a 6X World Champion and competed at the Worlds from 1990-1997.  Urango also won a silver medal and placed fourth at Worlds appearing in 8 World Championships.  She competed at 65-75kg.

Christine Nordhagen-Vierling (CAN) is an Olympian (5th) and a 6X World Champion.  Nordhagen (as she was known) also won a silver, bronze, & placed fourth at Worlds appearing in 9 World Championships from 1993-2001.  She competed at 68-75kg.

Adeline Maria Gray (USA) is an Olympian (7th) and a 5X World Champion.  Gray also won 2 bronze medals & placed fifth at Worlds appearing in 8 World Championships from 2009-2019.

Shoko Yoshimura (JPN) is a 5X World Champion and competed at the Worlds from 1989-1999.  Yoshimura also won a silver medal, 3 bronze medals, & placed fourth at Worlds appearing in 10 World Championships.  She competed at 44kg & 46kg.

Liu Dong Feng (CHN) is a 5X World Champion and competed at the Worlds from 1991-1997.  Dong Feng also won a bronze medal at Worlds appearing in 6 World Championships. She competed at 75kg.
Nikola Hartmann-Duenser (AUT) is a 5X World Champion and competed at the Worlds from 1992-2009.  Hartmann-Duenser, like Hamaguchi, also appeared in 15 World Championships! She competed at 57-63kg.

The above lists are designed to determine the best woman wrestler ever…  However, some other great pioneers of women’s wrestling that deserve to be mentioned are 4X World Champions Patricia Saunders (USA), Anna Gomis (FRA), Seiko Yamamoto (JPN); &  7X World Finalist Kristie Davis (USA). 

Determining the best woman wrestler ever (and making the list above) is/was a challenge, so,  take a look at the List of World and Olympic Champions in women's freestyle wrestling.  After that, check the results on all World and Olympic freestyle wrestling champions at the United World Wrestling Database.  Now you may be ready...

So who is the best woman wrestler ever?