#RulesAndRegulations

UWW Changes Rules to Promote Active Wrestling, Balance in Brackets

Thursday, January 27, 2022 - 15:14 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 27) – United World Wrestling's Bureau announced changes to wrestling's rules that are effective immediately.

One of the most significant rule changes regards points scored by the active wrestler during the 30-second “activity period.” With the updated rules, the active wrestler will receive points for any attacking moves and one point if their opponent fails to score while on the 30-second activity period.

Introducing this change encourages the active wrestler to score point(s) during the 30-second activity period.

Before last week's changes, the active wrestler received points for their attacking move or the one-point for their opponent's inactivity.

Another key decision that'll impact the match-point system is the update to fleeing the mat.

Independent of the style, any wrestler fleeing the mat will be penalized with a caution and 1 point without the need of a previous verbal warning. This penalty is counted in addition to the scored action. (Example: if action ends with Takedown = 2 points, then caution + 1 additional point. With stepping-out = 1 point, then caution + 1 point).

In Greco-Roman, fleeing the hold in both parterre and standing position will now be penalized with caution + only 1 point for the opponent.

The Bureau also approved specific changes related to challenges, draws and passivity warnings.

Qualification round draws will now be equally distributed using the top-bottom-bottom-top approach to provide a balanced bracket between the upper and lower half of the draw. The system used to place the seeded wrestlers will also follow the approach.

Examples of different types of brackets can be accessed here.

Coaches can now request a challenge after the points are published on the scoreboard or five seconds after the wrestlers come to the neutral position. This is a change from the earlier rule where the coaches only had five seconds to challenge after the score in question was published on the scoreboard.

The Bureau removed the verbal warning for passivity for U15, U17 (cadet) and Veterans as periods are shorter than U20 (junior), U23 and Seniors.

If a wrestler is in a danger position and simulates an injury while their opponent is looking for the fall, the referee will no longer stop the bout. In this case, the referee will ask for the fall, and the mat chairman will confirm it.

For a complete list of United World Wrestling's most up-to-date rule changes, please click here.

#WrestleParis

Paris 2024: Lopez confident in his quest for fifth Olympic gold

Sunday, July 21, 2024 - 06:14 By United World Wrestling Press

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PARIS (July 21) -- In the history of the Olympic Games, only one athlete has won the gold medals five consecutive times: Ireen Wüst. At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Dutch speed skater completed the milestone and etched her name into the history books when she won the 1,500m race.

No Summer Olympian has ever won gold medals in the same individual event five consecutive times. No wrestler has ever won five gold medals. All that could change in Paris. And the man sniffing at the record is Mijain LOPEZ (CUB).

The man they fondly call ‘Gigante de Herradura’ and ‘El Terrible’ currently holds the record of winning the same individual Olympic event four times along with swim legend Michael Phelps, track hero Carl Lewis, the American discus throw hero Al Oerter, the sailor from Denmark Paul Elvstrom and Kaori ICHO (JPN) who, like Lopez, has four gold medals.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB)Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Born on August 20, 1982, the super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestler made his first appearance at the Olympics in 2004. He was accompanied in the contingent by his elder brother Michel, a boxer (his other older sibling, Misael, was a rower). Michel won a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division in Athens, a medal that continued Cuba’s historic dominance in boxing.

Lopez observed everything quietly at his maiden Games and when he returned to the biggest stage of all, in Beijing four years later, he would take the field by storm. The 6-foot-5-inch tall wrestler won a gold and repeated that feat in 2012, then in 2016 and the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

“I feel like it is a dream,” Lopez said. “I believe that it's a goal that I have had throughout my career. I have won four gold medals. I believe winning an Olympic gold medal is hard. So winning four and five is exceptional.”

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB)Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) defends his gold medal at 2012 London Olympic Games (Photo: United World Wrestling / Martin Gabor)

His stranglehold in the super heavyweight division at the Olympics has played side-by-side with his dominance at the World Championships – where he has five titles and three silver medals – and the nine Pan American Championships crowns that are to his name.

Lopez last competed at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago. After beating Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO) in the gold medal bout on superiority, he stayed away from the mat before resurfacing last year to renew his bid for a fifth Olympic gold.

In May 2023, he announced his intention to come back but didn’t straightaway dive into competition mode although he would have been the favorite to defend his Pan American Games title.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB)Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) won his third gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

But due to a personal loss in the weeks leading up to the Pan-Am Games, Lopez opted out of the competition and chose to prepare himself for the bigger battle. He watched from the sidelines as for the first time since 2003, a new face stood on the top of the podium at the Pan-Am Games.

All the while, Lopez had been training with single-minded focus at his bases in Varadero, the scenic beach resort roughly 150 km from Havana, and the Pelado High-Performance Centre in Havana.

In Paris, he might have to fight two battles simultaneously. The first against his aging body — he is 41 years old at the moment. And once he manages that, the Cuban will have to navigate through a tough field, especially since he isn’t among the seeded wrestlers in the 130kg category.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB)Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) won his fourth gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Tony Rotundo)

Lopez has sounded unfazed. If anything, he is itching to better the record of one of his favorite athletes, someone he has called the greatest Olympian of all time – Phelps.

“The preparation is done. I feel in optimal condition and all wrestlers are motivated both in Cuba and internationally. It has been a very important time for me to keep the motivation to get to my sixth Olympic Games and fight for my fifth medal,” he said. “Something I am doing with great focus to be able to show the world that everything you have in mind, and want to achieve, can be achieved. I know it's in my mind, and I believe the possibility of achieving that result is high.”

Lopez wrestles in Paris on August 5 and 6.