BUDAPEST (September 15) – FILA President Nenad Lalovic, speaking on the eve of the senior wrestling world championships in Budapest, hailed the new direction wrestling has taken over the last seven months.

Lalovic addressed reporters one week after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted overwhelmingly to retain wrestling as a sport for the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games.

“We have seen a 71 percent increase in technical points at the junior and cadet world championships and this shows we have a good way,” said Lalovic. “There have been some mistakes, but we have good way.”

In his opening remarks, the FILA president remarked that the IOC “gave us their vote in Buenos Aires because we changed the sport.”

“We achieved our goal” but quickly added that “we also have a much bigger obligation.”

“We were chosen as a conditional sport (for 2020 and 2024) but our aim is to be a core sport.  So, we can’t stop.”

He also cautioned that wrestling will face a new evaluation in 2017.

Pressed by some journalists about the changes in the rules and in the weight categories, Lalovic said that the issues were being left up to experts and added that they will come up with a plan.

Competition gets under way at Papp Laszlo Budapest Sports Arena on Monday, September 16, in men’s freestyle and continues with women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman through Sunday, September 22.