#WrestleBelgrade

Fujinami pulls out of Belgrade Worlds with foot injury

Wednesday, September 7, 2022 - 20:01 By Ken Marantz

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TOKYO (Sept. 7)--Reigning world champion and top seed Akari FUJINAMI (JPN) will not be defending her title at the upcoming World Championships in Belgrade after suffering a left foot injury, Japan national women's team coach Ryo KANEHAMA said on Wednesday.

According to the Japan Wrestling Federation website, Kanehama said in an online press conference that the 18-year-old Fujinami, who was to defend her 53kg title in Belgrade, suffered ligament damage to the instep of her left foot while sparring during the first day of a national team training camp in late August.

Press reports said that Fujinami, who was on crutches after the injury, is able to put enough weight on the foot to walk, but it has not healed sufficiently to wrestle in matches. She is expected to need eight weeks to fully recover.

Japan will not send a replacement in the weight class.

"From this point, there are many important competitions ahead," Kanehama was quoted as saying. "To keep from making [the injury] worse, we made this decision today."

Kanehama was mainly referring to the All-Japan Championships in December, which will be the starting point for the qualifying process for the 2024 Paris Olympics. It is there Fujinami is expected to clash for the first time with Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Mayu SHIDOCHI (formerly MUKAIDA), who is entered at 55kg in Belgrade.

Fujinami, who currently has a 103-match winning streak that dates back to her junior high school days in 2017, won the world title in Oslo last year in her first senior international tournament, winning all four of her matches by technical fall without conceding a point.

#UnitedWorldWrestling

UWW successfully hosts first-ever World Conference

Thursday, September 25, 2025 - 14:16 By United World Wrestling Press

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ZAGREB, Croatia (September 24) -- United World Wrestling successfully hosted its first-ever World Conference in Zagreb, Croatia from September 17 to 19.

UWW President Nenad LALOVIC welcomed all the guest to the conference, held during the World Championships in Zagreb, and led the floor with discussions on Artificial Intelligence in wrestling, Amateur MMA, developing wrestling and the impact of social media to keep wrestling at the top.

Nenad LALOVICUnited World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC at the World Conference. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Jake Kirkman)

"On behalf of United World Wrestling, I wish you a warm welcome in Zagreb first, but to this conference too," Lalovic said. "We had this idea maybe almost a decade ago. We were seeking for a platform, how these good relations among wrestlers and the national federations can improve our sport."

Injury prevention, weight management, career transitions for wrestlers, as well as the future of the sport were some of the key discussions during the three-day event at the Westin Hotel.

Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVICInternational Olympic Committee member and former President of Croatia Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC.

Former President of Croatia and International Olympic Committee member Kolinda GRABAR-KITAROVIC marked her presence at the historic event in capital city of Croatia.

Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Croatia State Secretary Josip PAVIC was also present at the conference and expressed his gratitude for entrusting Croatia for hosting the championships and the conference. Croatia Wrestling Federation President Vladimir BREGOVIC, Dean of University of Kinesiology, Zagreb Prof. Mario BAIC and numerous other stakeholders marked their presence at the conference.

On day one of the conference, UWW's growth in media and digital transformation was discussed with focus on strategy, social media, partnership and equipment and new technologies. The discussion then headed to Beach Wrestling and Associated Styles with Amateur MMA and Grappling as the main topics.

Zack ERRETT

The second day of the conference saw UWW Educator Zach ERRETT explaining the rules of Beach Wrestling, International Testing Agency Senior Legal Counsel Ayesha TALPADE presenting details of anti-doping program, followed by a panel discussion.

Kuniko TANIOKA, President of the Shigakkan University in Japan, led the discussion on sport nutrition and weight management along with UWW Medical Commission members Saam FALAHATI, Ioannis BARBAS and Szabolcs MOLNAR.

Former wrestlers shared their experiences on transitioning from wrestling to other jobs. Neven and Nenad ZUGAJ were among the panellists that also included Mijain LOPEZ, Taha AGKUL, Arsen JULFALAKYAN, Don RYAN, Alexei BAZULIN, Erica WEIBE, Bruce BAUMGARTNER.

Sofia MATTSSON

Head of the United States women's team Terry STEINER presented the "coaching the women's" part on day three. He explained how to support and train women wrestlers and led the panel that also had Tanioka, Marwa AMRI, Vincent AKA, Sofia MATTSSON, Wiebe and Nadine PIETSCHMAN.

"Depending on the success of this first World Conference, we will decide if in the future it will be a biannual one or a quadrennial one. Maybe every year if you have so much to say," Lalovic said. "World Championships is the best opportunity for that because people are already here. This physical presence is always more efficient."

WorkshopA national federation workshop organized by United World Wrestling in Zagreb.

NF workshop

UWW also organized a workshop for the National Federations. UWW Sports Director Jean-Daniel REY and UWW Development Director Deqa NIAMKEY welcomed various NFs which had registered for the workshop.

Capacity building, finance and event organization were the key topics at the workshop. Croatia Wrestling Federation Secretary General Tin BREGOVIC, Professor of Kinesiology Nenad BORKOVIC, Professional Master in Social Innovation and Management Ivan BLAZEVIC led a panel discussion on the topic as they were part of the organizing committee for the World Championships in Zagreb.

Azerbaijan, Brazil, Spain and Thailand presented case studies related to event organization and the challenges of competitions.