WINDHOEK: Namibian wrestler Sem Shilimela will be in action on Friday in the 55kg Freestyle competition of the 2012 Olympic Games underway in London.

Shilimela, 21, will fight against Dzhamal Otarsultanov, 25, from Russia at about 13h20 local time.

The Namibian is one of 13 wrestlers who received a bye into the final.

Shilimela also competed at the 2011 World Championships, where he won his first-round fight before being eliminated in Round 16 by Vladimer Khinchegashvili of Georgia.

Recognised as one of the world’s oldest sports, wrestling was first held at the ancient Olympics in 708 BC, and Greco-Roman Wrestling was included at the Athens’ 1896 Games, the first of the modern era.

Played out on a circular mat, the sport is a battle of nerves, strength and skill, and should provide plenty of drama at ExCeL during London 2012.

The London 2012 wrestling competition consists of two disciplines – Greco-Roman, where athletes use their upper bodies and arms only, and Freestyle, where athletes can use any part of their bodies.

Meanwhile, mountain biker Marc Bassingtwaighte, the last of nine Namibian athletes at this year’s Olympic Games, will be in action on Sunday.

He will compete against 51 other riders in a tough off-road/cross country cycling competition at around 13h30.

Bassingthwaighte, 28, is one of only four Africans in the final, with two from South Africa and one from Rwanda.

Both the men’s and women’s cross-country races are held at Hadleigh Farm, a Salvation Army-owned site which underwent massive changes to make sure the cyclists face some tough climbing as well as downhilling challenges.

They will race on a 4.8 km circuit, and the number of laps for each race will be determined by a team captains’ meeting on Friday.

It has been designed so that the men and women finish in a maximum time of 1hr 45min.