#panam2018

Pan-Am's, Euro's Wrap Sunday in Peru, Russia

Saturday, May 5, 2018 - 23:47 By Tim Foley

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LIMA (May 5) – United World Wrestling concludes a busy week of championship competition Sunday with the final day of wrestling at the Senior Pan-American and Senior European Championships in Lima and Kaspiysk, respectively.

The Pan-American Championships will host a full day of men’s freestyle wrestling competition with eight weight categories going start to finish, while the European Championships are slated for bronze and gold medal finals in their final five men’s freestyle categories.

The European finals are highlighted by the heavyweight showdown between 2016 Olympic champion Taha AKGUL (TUR) and 2017 world champion Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO). The 125kg finale will be a rematch of last year’s world finals won by Petriashvili, 10-8. Many wrestling fans consider the duo’s 2017 clash to be the greatest heavyweight wrestling match in history.
 

 

The Euro finals will also feature 2012 Olympic champion Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) facing 2016 Olympic champion Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS). Both won their titles at 86kg, but are now testing their strength at the new non-Olympic 92kg weight category.

Sunday’s European gold medal finals begin at 6pm local:

61kg: Beka LOMTADZE (GEO) vs. Gadzhimurad RASHIDOV (RUS)

74kg: Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) vs. Soner DEMIRTAS (TUR)

86kg: leksandr GOSTIYEV (AZE) vs. Artur NAIFONOV (RUS)

92kg: Sharif SHARIFOV (AZE) vs. Abdulrashid SADULAEV (RUS)

125kg: Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) vs. Taha AKGUL (TUR) 

 

The Pan-American Championships in Lima conclude Sunday with freestyle wrestling. Matches will be highlighted by a crop of top tier freestyle talent from powerhouse Cuba and defending world champion United States. Team USA will feature 2016 world champion Logan STIEBER (65kg), 2017 world silver medalist Thomas GILMAN (57kg) and 2017 world bronze medalist Nick GWIAZDOWSKI (125kg)

Wrestling in Lima begins at 10am CT

#development

Bulgaria hosts OLYMP to increase media literacy

Wednesday, October 15, 2025 - 09:49 By United World Wrestling Press

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BULGARIA (October 15) -- Bulgaria hosted a seminar on the OLYMP project, funded by the European Union's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) Programme, at Diana National Wrestling Hall on October 9. The project aims to improve the media literacy of athletes, coaches, and sports managers.

The seminar was led by Georgi BANOV, one of the doyens of Bulgarian sports journalism, who has covered 14 Olympic Games in winter and summer sports, as well as a number of world and European Championships in wrestling, weightlifting, athletics, biathlon, and more.

The seminar was organized for the athletes of the national wrestling teams. The event was hosted by Belcho GORANOV, Chairman of the Ethics and Legal Commission of the United World Wrestling (UWW) and project manager on behalf of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC).

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by bgolympic (@bgolympic)

The team emphasized that the seminar is part of a six-month cycle of informal training under the OLYMP project, which covers a total of 110 young athletes. The program includes weekly sessions in small groups focusing on media and information literacy, critical thinking and analytical skills, as well as developing the participants' confidence and ability to defend their positions with reasoned arguments.

The weekly classes will include readings and discussions on biographies, novels, sports magazines, as well as topics related to sports management and economics. Additional informal activities -- meetings with prominent athletes and film screenings -- will be held twice a month, with each event featuring moderated debates and practical challenges for “fact checking” and ethical behavior on social media.

Banov drew the athletes' attention to how to verify the information they receive through social media and other sources, how to recognize fake news, how to search for reliable information, and how to use social networks correctly, avoiding hate speech.

At the end of the media literacy program, a combined (formal and informal) assessment is planned – short tests and case studies, observation of group work, participant portfolios, and satisfaction surveys—to report on the specific results of the training and its impact on the engagement of young athletes in public life.

Read more on BOC website