Obituary

Tragic Accident Claims Life of Russia's Zhiletezhev

Wednesday, July 27, 2022 - 15:21 By United World Wrestling Press

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MOUNT ELBRUS, Russia (July 26) --- On Tuesday (July 24), Russian Wrestling Federation wrestler Ahmed ZHILETEZHEV (RWF) tragically passed away after falling off a cliff while hiking in the Buka-Bashi Mountains. 

The accident occurred in the vicinity of Mountain Elbrus, where the Russian Junior Freestyle Wrestling team is currently at a training camp (July 14-31).

On their day off, Zhiletezhev, a bronze medalist of the Russian U20 Championship 2022, and two friends Anton Suchkov and Shukhrat Rasulov, went to Buka-Bashi Mountain. Their route was not registered with the Ministry of Emergency Situations. At 20:07 on July 24, a group member was reported to have fallen into the canyon. Later, it was determined that Zhiletezhev tragically passed after falling off a cliff.

United World Wrestling expresses its deepest sympathies to the Russian Wrestling Federation and the Zhiletezhev family.

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

Thursday, June 19, 2025 - 11:18 By United World Wrestling Press

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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.