In professional wrestling, a cruiserweight is a wrestler who competes in a Cruiserweight division. The term was first coined in the United States in 1996 by World Championship Wrestling. Prior to this, the terms "Light Heavyweight" and "Junior Heavyweight" were more commonly in use. The older term junior heavyweight is still favored in Japan, where many titles for lighter-weight competitors are called junior heavyweight titles. Prominent titles include New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP, Pro Wrestling Noah's GHC, and All Japan Pro Wrestling's World championships.
The 2009 World Games the eighth edition of the World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested in the Olympic Games.
Sports in American Samoa are slightly different from sports in Samoa. The main difference is that Samoans in American Samoa are more likely to follow or play American sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. Western Samoans are more likely to follow or play rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Sports such as mixed martial arts, boxing, professional wrestling, and volleyball are popular among most ethnic Samoans regardless of location.
In Taiwan, some of the most popular sports include baseball, basketball, badminton, football, softball, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball. Martial arts such as t'ai chi ch'uan and taekwondo are also practiced by many people. International-known athletes include Jeremy Lin, Tai Tzu-ying, Kuo Hsing-chun, Yu Chang, Chien-Ming Wang, Lin Yun-ju, Yang Chuan-kwang, Chou Tien-chen, Hsieh Su-wei, and Yani Tseng among others.
The main sports played in Samoa are rugby union and rugby league. Other popular sports are netball and soccer. Samoans in American Samoa are more likely to follow or play American sports such as American football, basketball, and baseball. Sports such as mixed martial arts, boxing, professional wrestling, and volleyball are popular among most ethnic Samoans regardless of location.
Serap Özçelik Arapoğlu is a Turkish karateka, who competes in the kumite 50–53 kg divisions. She won a world title in 2014 and a European title in 2011, 2012 and 2014.
Openweight, also known as Absolute, is an unofficial weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. It refers to bouts where there is no weight limit and fighters with a dramatic difference in size can compete against each other. It is different from catch weight, where competitors agree to weigh in at a certain amount without an official weight class. While weight classes are usually mandatory now, openweight competition was the norm for combat sports since antiquity and continues into the modern day.
Anna Alexeyevna Pogorilaya is a Russian figure skater. She is the 2016 World bronze medalist, a three-time European medalist, and the 2016 Russian national bronze medalist. She won gold at three Grand Prix events – the 2013 Cup of China, 2016 Rostelecom Cup, and 2016 NHK Trophy. Earlier in her career, she won bronze at the 2013 World Junior Championships and at the 2012–13 Junior Grand Prix Final.
The Sumo World Championships is an amateur sumo competition organized by the International Sumo Federation. The men's competition started in 1992 and the women's competition started in 2001, with both competitions having been held together. The competitions are generally held every year, although the 2009 and 2011 events were cancelled due to the 2009 flu pandemic and political unrest over the Arab Spring respectively. The 24th edition, originally scheduled to take place in Russia in 2022, will now be held in Tokyo in late 2023.
Anna Vasilyevna Shukina is a Russian retired ice hockey defenceman and former member of the Russian national ice hockey team.
Epp Mäe is an Estonian freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the women's 76 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. She won a bronze medal at the 2015, 2019 and 2022 World Wrestling Championships.
Japan competed at the World Games 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland, from 20 July 2017 to 30 July 2017.
Hiyori Kon is a Japanese amateur sumo wrestler, who is known for advocating for equal rights for women to compete professionally in Japan. She has been included in the BBC's list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world for 2019.
Svetlana Osipova is an Uzbekistani taekwondo practitioner. She won the gold medal in the women's heavyweight event at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships held in Guadalajara, Mexico. She also won the gold medal in the women's +73 kg event at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games held in Konya, Turkey.
Casey Kaufhold is an American archer competing in women's recurve events. She won the silver medal in the women's individual event at the 2021 World Archery Championships held in Yankton, United States. She competed in the women's individual and women's team events at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan.
Kang Chae-young is a South Korean archer competing in women's recurve events. She has won numerous medals in archery competitions.
Kayo Someya is a Japanese karateka. She is the 2012 World Champion in the women's kumite 68 kg event and a five-time gold medalist in this event at the Asian Karate Championships.
Sandy Scordo is a French karateka. She is a two-time silver medalist at the World Karate Championships in the women's individual kata event, both in 2012 and in 2014.
Misaki Emura is a Japanese fencer. She is a two-time gold medalist in the women's sabre event at the World Fencing Championships.
Women's sumo is a form of sumo played by women.
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