Athletes representing countries other than the ones in which they were born and/or live is nothing new, but it is an increasing trend in international wrestling. There are different reasons why an athlete might represent a country other than their "home country", and some might live and train in their new countries, but I won't get into that in this article. Just cold hard data! So, below is a look into how every athlete representing a country other than their "home country" performed at the Olympic Games.

Quick Facts

• A total of 43 athletes represented countries other than their "home countries"
• 31 in men's freestyle
• 10 in Greco-Roman
• 2 in women's freestyle
• 11 medals came from transfers (4 gold, 7 bronze, no silver)
• 9 others placed 5th
• There were 24 Russian transfers (19 in men's freestyle, 5 in Greco)
• There were 8 USA transfers (all in men's freestyle)
• 74 kg MFS was the weight with the most transfers - 8
  •  There were 6 Russians in the bracket
  • Transfers took gold, bronze, and both 5ths

Men's Freestyle Transfers

Men's Freestyle Team Points By Home Country

Team points are calculated according to UWW’s top 10 placement points for world championship team scoring: 25, 20, 15, 15, 10, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. At this point, only wrestlers who made the semifinals and finals at 68 kg have earned team points.

Women's Freestyle Transfers

Women's Freestyle Team Points By Home Country

Greco-Roman Transfers