#WrestleAcapulco

Senior Pan-Am Championships Moved to Acapulco, Mexico

By United World Wrestling Press

ACAPULCO, Mexico (February 15) -- The Senior Pan-American Championships 2022 will now be held in Acapulco, Mexico, instead of Santiago, Chile.

Despite the efforts of United World Wrestling and the Chilean Wrestling Federation, the event could not be held as originally scheduled in Santiago from May 5-8, 2022. The requirement decided by the Chilean Ministry of Health did not guarantee the participation of all countries.

Consequently, UWW was forced to move the competition to Acapulco. UWW would like to thank the Chilean Wrestling Federation for all the efforts put into organizing this event.

The Championships will be held according to the original program decided with seven weights of Greco-Roman beginning the event on May 5. The second day will see three remaining weights of Greco-Roman and four weights of women's wrestling. The remaining six weights of women's wrestling and two weights classes of freestyle wrestling will compete on Mat 7. Finally, the tournament will be closed out by the remaining eight freestyle weights on Sunday, May 8.

The deadline for the final entries is set for April 5, 2022.

Mexico has been a constant on the UWW calendar. They hosted the U17 Pan-Am Championships in 2019, U17 and U20 Pan-Am Championships in 2021, and are scheduled to host the U20 Pan-Am Championships this year apart from the reassigned senior Pan-Ams.

Development

Big step in women’s wrestling leadership with new members in UWW Bureau

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (November 6) -- At the UWW 2024 Congress that took place in Tirana, Albania on the October 27, a historic milestone was achieved in women wrestling leadership.

There were seven female candidates for the UWW Bureau, the supreme body of wrestling, marking the highest-ever participation by women in the process.

Kuniko Tanioka (JPN), Annette Kure (NOR), Lise Legrand (FRA), Cholpon Sultanbekova (KGZ), Buyana Peljee (MGL), Nadine Pietschmann (SUI) and UWW Vice-President, Natalia Yariguina (RUS) took part in the race for the Bureau role.

This was the first time that Women Lead Sports alumni being elected to NF president positions and the highest registered female candidates for the Bureau in the history. Rodica Yaksi (TUR) was promoted to Vice-President and Ye Zhang (CHN) has two years left in her term.

A report on the progress made for women coaches and referees at the Paris Olympic Games through the various initiatives and programmes established by UWW Technical Assistance and Development Commission was shared with the national federations that attended the 2024 congress.

“From Tokyo to Paris, we made great strides to promote gender equality within our wrestling community. It is our duty to pave the way for our future generations for equal opportunities, no matter the gender, the religious beliefs, ethnicity, etc.,” UWW President Nenad Lalovic said. “We value and praise those who promote wrestling at all levels. We witnessed that by providing the right programmes and opportunities it strengthens our sport and our community worldwide.”