Frank Chamizo

Frank Chamizo is a two-time world champion in freestyle wrestling and an Olympic bronze medal in this same discipline, who represented both Cuba and Italy at the highest level in the sport. A story of perseverance, after earning World and Pan American medals for Cuba Frank was pushed released from the National squad, a decision that pushed Chamizo towards homelessness. The young grappler would later overcome this circumstance by becoming a naturalized Italian citizen and joining the European country's wrestling circuit.

Frank Chamizo Wrestling

MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS

Freestyle (Cuba):
- 1st Place Pan American Championship (2010)
- 3rd Place World Championship (2010)

Freestyle (Italy):
- 1st Place World Championships (2015, 2017)
- 1st Place Mediterranean Games (2018)
- 1st Place European Championships (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020)
- 2nd Place World Championships (2019)
- 3rd Place Olympic Summer Games (2016)
- 3rd Place European Championships (2018)

Weight:
- 55 kg
- 65 kg
- 70 kg

Teams:
- Cuba National Squad
- Italy National Squad

Frank Chamizo Biography

Frank Chamizo Marquez was born in the Cuban province of Matanzas, on July 10, 1992, being the son of Pavel Chamizo, a well-known wrestler who left Cuba and young Frank in 1994, seeking asylum in the United States.

Growing up, Frank was not familiar with his father's sporting history, being raised by his grandmother in a very impoverished environment.

Young Chamizo found wrestling at the age of 7, driven to the sport after watching an impressive grappling warm-up at a local gym. Despite his grandmother's discontent with the chosen activity, Frank decided to sign up for wrestling practice, discovering his father's sporting past when he showed his identification for the gym's records as the coaches recognized his family name.

Continuing the family tradition, Frank became one of the top-ranked wrestlers in the nation, conquering the 55-kilogram bronze medal at the World Championships when he was just 18 years of age, a magnificent achievement that earned him the Young Cuban Wrestler Of The Year award in 2010.

As he was still growing into his adult frame, the 55-kilogram weight class became an increasingly harder cut to make, as a consequence, his performances on the mat suffered.. After a few disappointing results in 2011, Frank missed weight by 100 grams during a Cuban Federation check-up, which led to his immediate dismissal from the national squad, a decision by the federation which, according to Chamizo, had strong political implications as he was not allowed a second weight-in control.

Frank had dedicated his whole life to wrestling and without his national squad income, he quickly fell into indigent status, forced to sell small value goods on the streets to feed himself, and often sleeping outside, unable to afford accommodation.

After 3 years of this ordeal, a former Italian girlfriend of Chamizo and her family stepped in and helped Frank obtain an Italian passport. His former partner also had strong ties to the Italian Olympic, being an athlete herself, and set the bridge between, the now Cuban-Italian and the Italian wrestling team with whom he was allowed to work and become an important piece of Italy's team in the freestyle wrestling discipline.

While representing Italy, Chamizo quickly became one of the top wrestlers in Europe with sequential European titles and important world titles. Frank's style also earned him thousands of fans, making him one of the most popular wrestlers in the world.

Frank Chamizo - Ankle / Hip Toss