Asnage Castelly (born March 29, 1978Asnage Castelly
,

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Accessed August 12, 2016. "Date of birth: March 29, 1978 (Age 38); Height and weight: 1.82 m /6' 0'' — 74 kg / 163 lbs") is a

Haitian-American Haitian Americans (french: Haïtiens-Américains; ht, ayisyen ameriken) are a group of Americans of full or partial Haitian origin or descent. The largest proportion of Haitians in the United States live in Little Haiti to the South Florida area ...

wrestler who competed for

Haiti at the 2016 Summer Olympics Haiti competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900. Haitian Olympic Committee (french: Com ...

in the 74kg freestyle competition. Born in Haiti, Castelly moved to

Irvington, New Jersey Irvington is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 61,176. The township had the ninth-highest property tax rate ...

, at the age of 9, unable to speak English. Picked on as a child because of his lack of language skills, he became interested in wrestling after seeing a television broadcast of the Olympic games.Lemoult, Craig
"Springfield, Mass., Wrestler Hopes To Win Haiti's First Olympic Medal In 88 Years"
''

Weekend Edition ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday'' ...

'', June 18, 2016. Accessed August 12, 2016. He attended Irvington High School, where he competed in football, track and wrestling, winning a state district title in the sport. He graduated as part of the class of 1998.Evans, Bill
"Rio 2016: N.J. native to wrestle for Haiti, carry flag in Olympics Opening Ceremony"
NJ Advance Media for

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

, August 3, 2016. Accessed August 12, 2016. "Castelly moved to New Jersey from Haiti when he was 9 years old and he competed for Irvington High School.... He also played football and ran track for Irvington. After graduating from Irvington in 1998, he went on to wrestle for Division II American International in Springfield, Mass." He attended

American International College American International College (AIC) is a private college in Springfield, Massachusetts. History American International College was originally established on July 18, 1885, as the French Protestant College by Rev. Calvin E. Amaron, who sough ...

, a liberal arts college in

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

, as the first member of his family to ever attend college. There he competed, as part of the school's athletic program, in Division II of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

, graduating in 2002. He served in Iraq with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

as a Muslim chaplain, and became a member of the coaching staff at

Springfield Technical Community College Springfield Technical Community College (STCC, Stick) is a public Hispanic-serving technical college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is the only technical community college in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Located on the site of the Sp ...

(STCC) after completing his military service. Castelly is the first wrestler from Haiti to compete in the Olympics, a nation that has not won any Olympic medals since 1928. In order to be eligible to participate at the international level, he had to create the Haitian Wrestling Federation on his own. He received approval from both the Haitian Olympic Committee and

United World Wrestling United World Wrestling (UWW) is the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling; its duties include overseeing wrestling at the Olympics. It presides over international competitions for various forms of wrestling, including ...

, the international sanctioning body for the sport, and was allowed to compete. Alberto Nieves and his brother, former Olympian

Anibál Nieves Anibál Nieves Javier (born November 11, 1965) is retired male sport wrestler from Puerto Rico. In college, he wrestled for East Stroudsburg University, where he achieved All-American status at the Division I level of the NCAA. He twice r ...

– his coaches at American International and the head coaches respectively of the men's and women's programs at STCC – have been acting as his Olympic coaches. After creating the federation in 2005 and acting as its president, he worked unsuccessfully to compete at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and the 2012 games in London, before receiving an invitation from United World Wrestling to compete as a wild card entry at the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. As part of the 11-member contingent from Haiti at the 2016 games, Castelly was chosen to be the

flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...

at the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, an honor that surprised him so much that he "thought it was a joke", when he was first notified.Karasin, Reena
"Springfield man will carry Haitian flag at Olympics"
''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', August 3, 2016. Accessed August 12, 2016. "A Springfield man is poised to mark two milestones for his native Haiti in the Summer Olympics this month, competing as the nation's first-ever wrestling entrant and carrying the Haitian flag in the opening ceremonies." At and , he competed in the Wrestling Men's Freestyle 74 kg event. He was defeated in the first round by

Hassan Yazdani Hassan Yazdani Charati ( fa, حسن یزدانی چراتی born 26 December 1994 in Lapu Sahra, Chapakrud Rural District, Juybar County, Iran) is an Iranian wrestler. Yazdani is an Olympic and World Champion in freestyle wrestling in two weig ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, who went on to win the gold medal.Men's Freestyle 74 kg - Standings
, Rio2016.com. Accessed August 26, 2016. In 2015(?), he stated his intentions to move to Haiti after the 2016 Olympics and launch a wrestling program at Haitian schools by the end of 2020. Upon returning home to Haiti, his wife was shot 18 times by Steven Junior Perrin.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castelly, Asnage 1979 births American International College alumni American International Yellow Jackets wrestlers Haitian emigrants to the United States Haitian male sport wrestlers Irvington High School (New Jersey) alumni Living people Olympic wrestlers of Haiti People from Irvington, New Jersey Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for Haiti Wrestlers at the 2015 Pan American Games