Radovan Valach (born 21 March 1976) is a retired amateur Austrian freestyle wrestler, who competed in the men's heavyweight category.[1] He finished ninth in the 96-kg division at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in New York City, New York, United States, and later represented his nation Austria at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Throughout his sporting career, Valach trained full-time for AC Wals Wrestling Club in Wals-Siezenheim, under his personal coach Georg Neumaier.[2] Being born in the former Czechoslovakia, Valach also holds a dual citizenship with Slovakia to compete in numerous wrestling tournaments.

Radovan Valach
Personal information
Full nameRadovan Valach
Nationality Austria
Born (1976-03-21) 21 March 1976 (age 48)
Trenčín, Czechoslovakia
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight99 kg (218 lb)
Sport
SportWrestling
StyleFreestyle
ClubAC Wals
CoachGeorg Neumaier

Valach qualified for his naturalized Austrian squad in the men's 96 kg class at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens by receiving a berth and placing ninth from the World Championships.[3] Valach was easily overwhelmed by U.S. wrestler Daniel Cormier on his opening match 0–9, and could not recover his form to wrestle Poland's Bartłomiej Bartnicki at 1–4, leaving him on the bottom of the prelim pool and finishing nineteenth overall in the final standings.[4][5][6]

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Radovan Valach". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Trenčiansku légiu vzali do rakúskej armády" [Trenčin legion has taken into the Austrian army] (in Slovak). SME. 26 July 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  3. ^ Abbott, Gary (18 July 2004). "Olympic Games preview at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. in men's freestyle". USA Wrestling. The Mat. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Wrestling: Men's Freestyle 96kg". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Ringen: Cikel und Valach gescheitert" [Wrestling: Cikel and Valach failed] (in German). Der Standard. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Sanderson salvages gold for U.S. wrestlers". ESPN. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
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