YOG

IOC: Dakar Summer YOG Postponed to 2026

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 22) -- The International Olympic Committee has announced that the Summer Youth Olympic Games scheduled for Dakara, Senegal in 2022, have been postponed to 2026. The announcement comes during the worldwide effort to control the caronavirus pandemic.

From the IOC Website:

The postponement of Dakar 2022 allows the IOC, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the International Federations (IFs) to better plan their activities, which have been strongly affected by the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, by the subsequent postponements of major international sports events, and by the operational and financial consequences of the global health crisis.

At the same time, it allows Senegal to carry on the excellent preparations for the Youth Olympic Games. The two leaders, who praised the progress made so far, have jointly renewed their confidence in Dakar 2022 President Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye, IOC Member in Senegal, and both remain fully committed to the great success of these Youth Olympic Games, the first Olympic event ever to be organised in Africa.

 

The 2022 Summer YOG was scheduled to include beach wrestling and freestyle wrestling on the programme.

#development

Four Coaches Graduate in Hungary Under Olympic Solidarity Programme

By United World Wrestling Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 1) -- Four wrestling coaches graduate from the University of Sport Science in Budapest and enrolled in the first-ever wrestling mentorship programme at KIMBA in collaboration with the Hungarian Wrestling Federation.

Carlos BARAHONA (ESA), Gilbert KABOCHE (KEN), Anuja MALLAWAAARACHCHI (SRI) and Raphael MULENGA (ZAM) gathered in Hungary for the Olympic Solidarity Coaches Scholarship Programme, focused on strengthening wrestling through education, mentorship, and scientific coaching methods.

The programme introduced a new mentorship initiative for scholarship participants and emphasized the importance of scientific coaching methods, youth development, and structured education systems. Organizers highlighted that coaches are central to building sustainable wrestling cultures in their countries.

A key programme that the coaches will be using, when they return to their countries, will be the UWW Academy’s “Wrestle4Fun," an initiative that provides accessible training resources for PE teachers and beginner coaches, including activities that require little or no equipment.

HungaryFrom left to right: Gabor FARKAS (HUN), Zach ERRETT, Deqa NIAMKEY, Tamas STERBENZ (HUN), Peter BACSA and Gergely BABSZKY (HUN).

UWW Development Director Deqa NIAMKEY and Education Manager Zach ERRETT met with the rector of the University of Sport Science of Budapest, Professor Dr. Tamás STERBENZ along with UWW Bureau Member Peter BACSA, Gabor FARKAS and Gergely BABSZKY, Hungary National Coaches and professors at the University in charge of the wrestling programme.

The discussion focused on the expansion of partnerships in sports science and wrestling education. The message from discussions showed that the future growth of wrestling depends on education, grassroots participation, scientific coaching, and international cooperation.

Following the meeting, the UWW Development Department agreed to continue the programme and to share the next intakes which will provide further educational opportunities for UWW community worldwide.

UWW thanks Olympic Solidarity for their unwavering support to the development of wrestling worldwide.