#development

Guenat presents UWW’s IT success at ASOIF workshop

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 08:51 By United World Wrestling Press

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (May 24) -- ASOIF’s Sport Development and Education Workshop brought together 50 experts from 29 Summer and Winter Olympic International Federations (IFs) earlier this week. Organized by the ASOIF Sport Development and Education Group (ASDEG), the workshop focused on the common challenges and opportunities related to digitalization, the centralization of information, the evaluation of return on investment of IF development programs, new revenue sources for such programs, and sport initiations at multi-sports events.

The event was held on May 16 and 17 in Lausanne, Switzerland, led by the Chair of ASDEG Deqa NIAMKEY, Development Director at United World Wrestling.

Several representatives from ASOIF member federations presented case studies and shared best practices, while a number of external experts provided additional insights into the topics addressed.

UWW IT Director Sébastien GUENAT presented the Athena and Arena system during the workshop explaining how technology can help ease the work of any IF.

“It has been a pleasure to show what we have been working on at UWW for the past 10 years and discover that other IFs are on a similar path with not only questions but also interesting ideas on how to make technological tools more engaging for everybody," Guenat said.

Cynthia Amami and Margaux Kaltenbacher from Olympic Solidarity shared their experience on successful methods and tools to centralize information, whereas Jonas Gredenhag from PGA Tour explained how new ways of data collection have helped to enhance professional golf tournaments.

Katie Brazier from Birmingham City Council and Lilia Barieva from the International University Sports Federation (FISU) then presented successful examples of innovative sports initiations at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the World University Games respectively.

During another session, Elena Portas and Patrick Massey from Portas Consulting discussed social return on investment with the Forum participants.

Development and education are crucial to solid foundations and the healthy future of every sport. It's great to see that each year, our workshop attracts more IF colleagues and the discussions and outcomes are really constructive.

The workshop facilitates a united approach of a large number of IFs in the implementation of their sport development and education projects. This allows efficiencies in terms of human and financial resources, ensures a certain consistency across the sports and thereby maximizes the impact of the related IF activities overall.

#WrestleCoralville

Pan-American Championships 2026 Day 1 Highlights

Thursday, May 7, 2026 - 14:28 By Eric Olanowski

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CORALVILLE, USA (May 7) -- The opening day of the Pan-American Championships is set to kick off this morning at 10:00 (local time) with Greco-Roman action. The eight weight classes that'll take the mat this morning are 55kg, 60kg, 63kg, 67kg, 77kg, 82kg, 87kg and 130kg. 

Start in Action: 
- Luis ORTA (CUB) – Tokyo 2020 gold, Paris 2024 bronze
- Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) - Paris 2024 silver
- Oscar PINO HINDS - Returning Pan-Am champion, World silver
- Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) - Returning Pan-Am champion
- Jeremy Renzo PERALTA (ECU) - Returning Pan-Am champion

BOUT ORDER | SCHEDULE 

1:11: We're going to take a short four-minute break before heading into the semifinal matches. We'll see you over on UWW+ for those at 1:15 (local time).

12:18: Terrible scene here in Iowa. Olympic runner-up Yasmani ACOSTA (CHI) went for a throw in his semifinal match and suffered a tournament-end injury to his right knee. He was take off on a wheel chair, ending his day and tournament here at the Pan-American Championships.

12:01:  Eduardo BERNAL MOLINA (CHI) was just about to give up the tech fall when he caught Diego MARTINEZ DE LEIJA (MEX) on his back for the fall. He moved into the 77kg semifinals with that fall, and will meet the winner of Justin BOYCE (BAR) and Oscar Antonio BARRIOS ROCHEZ (HON).

11:31: U23 world bronze medalist Otto BLACK (USA) earns the 8-0 win in his senior Pan-Am debut, punching his ticket to the 67kg semifinals later today.

11:10: Orta moves into the 67kg semifinals with a fall over Horta after leading 9-0. He awaits the winner of Alejandro VARELA (GUA) and Angelo CAFE DE OLIVEIRA (BRA). That match is underway on Mat B, with the Guatemalan  winning, 9-2

11:01: For a second time today, we have a meeting of Pan-Am champions. This time, it's four-time Pan-Am champ Orta Sanchez taking on Julian HORTA (COL). The Cuban has an early 2-0 lead coming from a pair of step outs.

10:51: As expected when you have two high level Greco guys like Melelashvili and Gregorich, it was a low scoring affair, but in the end it was a 1-1 criteria win for the American. He scored the first point, which gave him the criteria advantage at the end of the bout. I'll tell you what, though, it was weird seeing a Cuban Olympic champion in Borrero, cornering an American, who was beating a Cuban. Borrero certainly knew Gregorich's strengths and helped Melelashvili use them to his advantage.

10:31: We have a pair of Pan-Am champions coming up on Mat B next in Beka MELELASHVILI (USA) and Daniel GREGORICH (CUB). The American is the reigning champ, while the Cuban won the event in 2024. 

10:23: Not wrestling related, but Cuban world and Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO (CUB) is cornering USA WRESTLING athletes. He is now living in Colorado Springs, USA, where he is an Assistant Greco-Roman Coach.

10:08 - Whistles are ringing through the Xtream Arena here in Iowa, which means wrestling is underway. We're only running two mats here. The first star that'll be in action will be world and Olympic champion Luis ORTA (CUB). He's currently 16-0 at the Pan-American Championships and is looking for his fifth continental title.