#NFRoundup

NF Roundup Blog, Dec. 28-Jan. 1

By United World Wrestling Press

This week, Inside the Games published a story about the greatness of four-time Olympic champion Kaori ICHO (JPN). The writer of the story, Dan Palmer, makes the case for Icho being the greatest Olympian of all time. 

Palmer argues that Olympic greats in multi-event sports should not be the only Olympic athletes considered in the greatest of all time debate. 

"My argument is we should not always think of swimming and other Olympic sports with several events, such as athletics, gymnastics and cycling, when it comes to debating who is the greatest of all time," wrote Palmer.

"The Japanese wrestler is, by my reckoning, the only Olympic athlete to have won four gold medals in an individual discipline where she had absolutely no margin for error at all, and no consolation prize of another event to compete in."

Read story on Inside the Games
 

#WrestleZagreb

UWW to continue tests for Greco-Roman tie-breaker rule

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (June 19) — The Technical Commission of United World Wrestling has decided to further test the tie-breaking rule for Greco-Roman bouts that end with a 1-1 score.

UWW had announced in March that it would test a new Greco-Roman rule at the European Championships in April. This rule awarded victory in a 1-1 Greco-Roman bout to the wrestler who scored the first technical point.

Testing at the European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia yielded positive results. However, to fully evaluate the rule, the Commission agreed to conduct further tests at more events.

Beginning with the U15 European Championships in Caorle, Italy from June 25, all future events till the 2025 World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia will be conducted under the new rule which awards the victory to the wrestler who scored the first technical point if the match ends 1-1. This means that the 2025 World Championships in Zagreb will be part of the testing.

The change comes after it was unanimously acknowledged that the existing rule, which awards victory to the athlete who scores the last point, may unintentionally encourage passivity at the start of the bout. Wrestlers could strategically aim to secure a passivity point in the second period, ultimately winning the match without demonstrating consistent engagement throughout.

UWW once again stresses that the modification will be implemented exclusively for Greco-Roman and will apply only to matches that end with a 1-1 score. For all other score scenarios, the existing wrestling rules will remain in effect.