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Kyrgyzstan hosts 2022 Asia More Than Medals camp

Wednesday, June 29, 2022 - 11:35 By United World Wrestling Press

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CHOLPON, ATA, Kyrgyzstan (June 29) --- Aligned with the UWW strategy that is focusing on youth development, the 2022 More Than Medals U17 training camp Asia was held in Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyzstan from 23rd to 30th of June.

Eight countries, 50 wrestlers and coaches took part in this camp. Among them, six U17 Asian Championships gold medalists and one silver medalist.

Mirlan Amatbekov, Bureau member of the Wrestling Federation of The Kyrgyz Republic on behalf of the federation presented at the camp opening on the 23rd of June.

The Anti-Doping seminar was carried out by Zhagul Nazirbaeva from the national Anti-Doping agency on the 25th of June. The seminar was centered on general Anti-Doping rules, rights & responsibilities of athletes & coaches (rules for minors and adults), testing procedure, and clean sport values, ethics.

Aisulu TYNYBEKOVA (KGZ), Akzhol MAKHMUDOV (KGZ), Zholaman SHARSHENBEKOV (KGZ) and Ernazar AKMATALIEV (KGZ) joined the camp as the ambassadors on the 25th and 28th of June and shared their techniques and experience with the youngsters and encouraged them to further pursue their dreams in wrestling.

A fun activity-day was organized with the support of the Wrestling Federation of The Kyrgyz Republic. The traditional Kyrgyz culture and the nomad life were introduced, and the young athletes had a chance to cruise and swim in the famous Issyk Kul lake.

This camp once again marked the success of the continued More than Medals program that United World Wrestling has been offering to the young athletes since 2017.

KGZCamp attendees pose together for a group photo. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

‘We are very happy to join this More than Medals Asian camp in Cholpon Ata, we learnt a lot during this camp and hope to enhance our performance in the upcoming championships. The hospitality and the organization of this camp was amazing. On behalf of the Indian wrestling federation coaches and athletes, we are very thankful for United World Wrestling organize such high standard camp.’ Shyam Budaki, wrestling coach of India.

‘I like this training camp very much. A big thank you to United World Wrestling for giving me such a great experience. We learn a lot of wrestling techniques from each other and made friends with participants from other countries, we will be missing each other.’ Nurudinova Aidai, women’s wrestling 53kg athlete from Kyrgyzstan.

As part of United World Wrestling’s commitment in advancing wrestling development in youth, the More Than Medals program has been resumed after 2 years of the COVID pandemic. The program aims at delivering high-level training camps at continental and world levels with added social, cultural activities, Anti-Doping education, nutrition advice, leadership skills and more.

‘This age period has the highest dropout rate for young athletes, and the More than Medals program aims to keep these athletes in wrestling and help them realize their full potential as wrestlers. More importantly, the theme ‘fun and friendship’ runs through the program, after all, these athletes are all under 17 years of age.’ Deqa Niamkey, UWW Development Director, ‘We invested a lot in youth development with an aim to secure the future of wrestling.’

KGZMore Than Medals attendees spend time together off the mat. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

A special thank you to the Wrestling Federation of The Kyrgyz Republic for hosting such an amazing camp for the U17 athletes from all over Asia.

The More Than Medals World training camp will be organized in Rome from the 1st to 7th of August.

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UWW partners with FFL to announce INSEP as high-performance center

Friday, September 2, 2022 - 07:42 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 2) -- As the buzz for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris gathers momentum, the United World Wrestling (UWW) has entered into a partnership with the French wrestling federation (FFL), the country's National Institute of Sport, Expertise, and Performance -- commonly known as INSEP -- in a bid to grow wrestling in France, assist Francophone athletes and open the doors to world-class training facilities to wrestlers from across the globe.

As per the tri-partite agreement, the INSEP national wrestling network of training centers of Paris, Dijon and Font Romeu will be designated as a UWW World Wrestling Center.

This will enable the centers to hold training camps for selected elite wrestlers, conduct education courses for wrestling coaches, and organize knowledge-sharing activities (e.g. seminars, educational sessions, coach exchanges) that assist referees and coaches in ways that enhance world-class athlete preparation systems as well as ensure experience sharing in particular for female sport. It will also enable them to take active leadership in world wrestling regarding best-practice athlete pathway management.

This will also help the French federation to welcome as many foreign countries as possible to the center to be able to find training partners for the wrestlers. Currently, 26 French wrestlers train at INSEP in the three Olympic styles.

Nenad LALOVICUWW President Nenad LALOVIC at INSEP in Paris. (Photo: INSEP / Isabelle AMAUDRY)

Nenad Lalovic, President of the UWW, Lionel Lacaze, President of the FFL and Fabien Canu, Director of INSEP were present on the occasion.

“INSEP is a well renowned high-performance center worldwide and today we are delighted to sign this agreement to further strengthen our sport in France and abroad," Lalovic said.

INSEP was created in 1975 under the name, the National Institute of Sport and Physical Education. Over the years, it has grown into one of the world’s foremost Olympic training centers.

Spread over 28 hectares, it is home to almost 800 athletes in 27 Olympic and Paralympic disciplines, including wrestling. 

INSEP not only has a state-of-the-art training facility but also provides technical and scientific expertise with genuine respect for the athletes. INSEP is the ideal training center for elite athletes in view of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.