United World Wrestling

United World Wrestling's Statement on Conflict in Ukraine

Wednesday, March 2, 2022 - 16:28 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 2) -- The UWW Bureau met today to discuss the conflict taking place in Ukraine.

From the outset, the Bureau wished to express its solidarity with the Wrestling community, and more largely, the sports community in Ukraine and all the people affected by the war.

It re-affirmed one of the missions of the Federation, in line with the Olympic Charter, to promote peace through sports.

In order to preserve the safety of all athletes and the integrity and fairness of all its competitions, as a measure of reciprocity for all wrestlers prevented to travel and compete due to this situation, the Bureau carefully reviewed, and decided to align with the events protective measures recommended by the IOC in its statement of February 28, 2022: “In order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants, the IOC EB recommends that International Sports Federations and sports event organizers not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in international competitions”.

In this deplorable situation, the Bureau has decided that no wrestlers or officials belonging to the UWW affiliated and associated federations in Russia and Belarus shall be, with immediate effect, invited or allowed to participate in international competitions in the UWW calendar.

The Bureau also approved the cancellation of the International Tournaments planned in Russia or Belarus this year as per the IOC’s urgent recommendation of February 25, 2022.

The Bureau also acknowledged the messages from its stakeholders and members about the current situation. 

The UWW Bureau will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and make any further immediate decisions as the situation evolves.

The UWW is in close contact with the IOC to coordinate any humanitarian support.

#WrestlePontevedra

Wrestling legend Medved, three-time Olympic champion, passes away aged 86

Monday, September 2, 2024 - 09:36 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 2) -- Aleksandr MEDVED, the most successful Freestyle wrestler with 10 Olympic and World Championships gold medals, died on Monday aged 86 years.

Medved made his international debut at the 1961 World Championships, where he won bronze in the 87kg weight class. A year later, he jumped to 97kg and won the gold medal at the World Championships.

Barring 1965, Medved won all the World Championships gold medals from 1962 to 1971, majorly competing in the +100kg. He was considered small for the weight class, yet he dominated it for more than a decade.

Apart from winning seven gold medals, Medved also won a silver medal (1965) and a bronze medal (1961) at the World Championships.

Aleksandr MEDVEDAleksandr  MEDVED as a referee in a wrestling bout. (Photo: IMAGO / ITAR-TASS)

"The passing of Aleksandr saddens us," United World Wrestling President Nenad LALOVIC said. "He was an ambassador of our sport and his achievements show that the world regarded him as the best."

"It's a great loss to the wrestling world and we are with the Medved family in this time of grief."

Medved won his first Olympic gold medal in 1964 at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the 97kg weight class. He repeated as the Olympic champion in the +97kg at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, beating Osman DURALIEV (BUL). The two met in the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the +100kg final and Medved defeated Duraliev again to win his third Olympic gold medal.

He also has three European Championships titles as well.

After retiring from the sport, Medved was actively involved in coaching. He was inducted into the UWW Hall of Fame in 2003.

United World Wrestling expresses its condolences to the Medved family.