Russia's 55kg freestyle Olympic representative looks to be determined

Russia excused Kudukhov from Russian Nationals and it seems barring any injuries he will be wrestling in Beijing. The coaches don't want him to cut weight for Nationals just 2.5 months before Olympics. They are also saying he proved himself as the leader by winning Worlds last year, Yarigin tourney and with a victory at the World Cup.

interesting... Has otarsultanov ever come close to beating kudukhov?

They are saying Otarsultanov is getting better with a win at Europeans but the loss to Kudukhov at Yarigin's pretty much sealed the deal.

They are also saying they will be training Kudukhov individually from now till Olympics with an emphasis on his most known and likely opponents in Beijing.

Kudukhov is nasty, that side he came through to win Worlds last year was phenomenal.

Ya, he had a bunch of close matches (the Canadian guy almost knocked him off) but he won them all. The Russians all seem to be good at winning the close ones, esp. Murtza and Gatsalov (until recently.)

I have a feeling that some americans are gonna make upsets, if anyone will it will be an american, look at slay and saitiev, (regret saying it but...) gardner and karelin. Its obvious but americans really want to win and it shows in their aggressive wrestling. I really hope cejudo wins a medal, hes quite phenominal.

How do the Russians qualify for the Olympics? Do they have world trials or anything like that, or is it just the Russian Nationals?

Big can correct me if he wants to, but what I've gotten is that its based on a combination of Russian Nationals, as well as (with probably more emphasis here) on performance in World Level tournaments.