#Tokyo2020

Ecuador, Romania Earn Olympic Tickets as North Korea Withdraws from Tokyo 2020

Tuesday, June 15, 2021 - 15:08 By United World Wrestling Press

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea provided official notice that they won't be attending the Tokyo Games, thereby giving Ecuador and Romania additional Olympic allocations.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 15) -- Officials from The Democratic People's Republic of Korea have notified United World Wrestling and the International Olympic Committee that they will not be attending the Summer Olympics this year in Tokyo.

Due to their absence, North Korea's Olympic qualification allocations at 53kg and 62kg in women's wrestling must be reassigned according to the established United World Wrestling's Olympic qualification system.

The Olympic qualifications will now be allotted to Ecuador (53kg) and Romania (62kg).

Ecuador's Luisa VALVERDE MELENDRES, who finished seventh at the 2019 Wrestling World Championships in Nur-Sultan, will earn the award for her home nation as she was the next highest finisher at 53kg after the removal of world champion PAK Yong Mi (PRK).

At 62kg RIM Jong Sim (PRK) placed 6th at the world championships leaving Kriszta INCZE (ROU) as the next highest, non-qualified, finisher at the weight category. Wrestlers ahead of her from Ukraine and the United States later qualified at their respective continental qualification events.

Wrestling at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games is set to begin August 1, 2021, at the Makuhari Messe in Tokyo.

#development

ISF Gymnasiade in Zlatibor adds coaching seminar for Serbian coaches

Thursday, April 24, 2025 - 11:52 By United World Wrestling Press

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ZLATIBOR, Serbia (April 24) -- United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to provide a coaching education seminar for Serbian coaches at the ISF Gymnasiade, which was held in Zlatibor, Serbia, from April 4-12, with the wrestling competition being held from April 6-8.

Wrestling has been a part of each of the Gymnasiade events, and the previous edition was held in Bahrain last October.

As part of the Gymnasiade events, ISF focuses on providing education to coaches and PE teachers. UWW was fortunate to give a training session for Serbian coaches at this event.

The training was led by UWW Educators Georgi SREDKOV (BUL), Neven ZUGAJ (CRO and Nenad ZUGAJ (CRO).

The seminar was attended by 23 coaches over the two sessions. The morning session focused on sound strategies for coaching and better understanding wrestling rules. The afternoon session was a practical session on the mats that focused on sharing wrestling techniques and implementing interactive games. 

Sredkov also participated in the ISF Forum on Beyond the Events: How School Sports Shape Future Leaders, which was held on April 9.

During the Forum, Sredkov discussed how wrestling helps athletes learn to find solutions to problems, how competing helps handle pressure and remain calm and focused, and the importance of collaboration for success. 

The wrestling competition was held in Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Women's Wrestling, and 303 athletes from 16 countries participated. The results can be found here.