Grace Bullen

Grace Bullen

File:Grace Bullen.jpg Grace Bullen in 2021
Personal information
Born	(1997-02-07) 7 February 1997 Eritrea
Sport
Country	Norway
Sport	Amateur wrestling
Weight class	57 kg 59 kg 62 kg
Event(s)	Freestyle
Coached by	Zurabi Iakobishvili
Medal record Women's freestyle wrestling Representing Norway Olympic Games 2024 Paris 62 kg World Championships 2022 Belgrade 59 kg 2023 Belgrade 62 kg European Championships 2017 Novi Sad 58 kg 2020 Rome 57 kg 2024 Bucharest 62 kg 2016 Riga 58 kg 2023 Zagreb 62 kg European Games 2015 Baku 58 kg Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin 2019 Krasnoyarsk 57 kg Dan Kolov - Nikola Petrov Tournament 2019 Ruse 57 kg Grand Prix 2022 Rome 59 kg 2018 Klippan 59 kg World U23 Championships 2018 Bucharest 59 kg World Juniors Championships 2017 Tampere 59 kg European Juniors Championships 2015 İstanbul 59 kg 2016 Bucharest 59 kg 2017 Dortmund 59 kg Summer Youth Olympics 2014 Nanjing 60 kg World Cadets Championships 2014 Snina 60 kg European Cadets Championships 2013 Bar 60 kg 2014 Samokov 60 kg 2012 Katowice 56 kg

Grace Jacob Bullen (born 7 February 1997) is a Norwegian freestyle wrestler. She won the silver medal in the 59 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia. She is a five-time medalist, including three gold medals, at the European Wrestling Championships. Bullen also won a bronze medal for Norway at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Early life

Born in a refugee camp in Eritrea to South Sudanese parents, she moved to Fredrikstad, Norway in 2001 at the age of four. Already at the age of four she took up wrestling in the martial arts club Atlas.

Career

At the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics held in Nanjing, China, Bullen represented Norway and she won the gold medal in the girls' 60 kg event. In the final, she defeated Pei Xingru of China. In 2015, she represented Norway at the European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan and she won one of the bronze medals in the women's 58 kg event. She lost her first match against Emese Barka of Hungary and entered the repechage. Here she won against Valeria Koblova by walkover and she defeated Irina Netreba of Azerbaijan in the bronze medal match. Bullen also competed in the women's 58 kg event at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships held in Las Vegas, United States where she was eliminated in her second match by Marianna Sastin of Hungary.

In 2016, Bullen won the silver medal in the women's 58 kg at the European Wrestling Championships held in Riga, Latvia. In the final, she lost against Nataliya Synyshyn of Azerbaijan. The following year, she won the gold medal in the same event at the 2017 European Wrestling Championships held in Novi Sad, Serbia. In the final, she defeated Mariana Cherdivara of Moldova. In the same year, Bullen was eliminated in her first match in the women's 58 kg event at the 2017 World Wrestling Championships held in Paris, France.

In 2018, Bullen competed in the 57 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. She won her first match against Giullia Penalber of Brazil and her next match against Jong In-sun of North Korea. She then lost her next match against Rong Ningning of China; Rong went on to win the gold medal. Bullen then failed to secure the bronze medal in her match against Pooja Dhanda of India. A month later, at the 2018 World U23 Wrestling Championship held in Bucharest, Romania, she won the gold medal in the women's 59 kg event.

In 2019, Bullen won one of the bronze medals in the women's 57 kg event at the Golden Grand Prix Ivan Yarygin held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. In the same year, she also competed in the 57 kg event at the 2019 European Games held in Minsk, Belarus where she lost her bronze medal match against Anastasia Nichita of Moldova. In 2020, Bullen won the gold medal in the 57 kg event at the European Wrestling Championships held in Rome, Italy. In the final, she defeated Alina Akobiia of Ukraine.

In March 2021, Bullen competed at the European Qualification Tournament in Budapest, Hungary hoping to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Her hopes were dashed when she was eliminated in her first match by Bediha Gün of Turkey. A month later, she was eliminated in her second match in the 59 kg event at the 2021 European Wrestling Championships held in Warsaw, Poland. In May 2021, she failed to qualify for the Olympics at the World Qualification Tournament held in Sofia, Bulgaria. She won her first two matches but she was then eliminated in the semi-finals by Veronika Chumikova. In October 2021, she was eliminated in her first match in the women's 59 kg event at the World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway.

In 2022, Bullen won the gold medal in her event at the Matteo Pellicone Ranking Series 2022 held in Rome, Italy. She won the silver medal in the 59 kg event at the 2022 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Bullen won the silver medal in the 62 kg event at the 2023 European Wrestling Championships held in Zagreb, Croatia. She won one of the bronze medals in the 62 kg event at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Bullen won the gold medal in the 62 kg event at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships held in Bucharest, Romania. She defeated Luisa Niemesch of Germany in her gold medal match.

Bullen won one of the bronze medals in the women's 62 kg event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. She defeated Ana Godinez of Canada in her bronze medal match.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Location	Result	Event
2015	European Games	Baku, Azerbaijan	3rd	Freestyle 58 kg
2016	European Championships	Riga, Latvia	2nd	Freestyle 58 kg
2017	European Championships	Novi Sad, Serbia	1st	Freestyle 58 kg
2020	European Championships	Rome, Italy	1st	Freestyle 57 kg
2022	World Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	2nd	Freestyle 59 kg
2023	European Championships	Zagreb, Croatia	2nd	Freestyle 62 kg
	World Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	3rd	Freestyle 62 kg
2024	European Championships	Bucharest, Romania	1st	Freestyle 62 kg
	Summer Olympics	Paris, France	3rd	Freestyle 62 kg