Development

UWW Conducts First-Ever Referee and Coaches Education Week

By United World Wrestling Press

MANCHESTER, England (November 27) -- United World Wrestling hosted its first-ever Referee and Coaches Course last week in Manchester, England. The course was held in collaboration with British Wrestling and the event paired current 1S-ranked referees with high-performance coaches from 23 countries across all five continents.

The first three days of the education week was the educator course for the referees and coaches, which sought to teach both how to transmit their knowledge to others in the most effective way.

The classroom teachings were then followed by a mat session day where officiating bodies and coaches discussed the interpretation of the rules along with practical sessions.

The last three days of the course were dedicate to delivering an introduction to refereeing and Level 1 Coaches Course to British Wrestling novice referees and coaches. The course was the first of its kind in England and the coaches enjoyed the opportunity to enhance and develop wrestling across Great Britain.

“It was a thrill to be in Manchester for the course," said Olympic and world champion Daniel IGALI. "It afforded coaches and referees the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people.”

UWW Development Department will conduct similar courses in the coming years with collaboration from each Continental Council.

UWW Playlist: Best of World and Olympic Champion Susaki

By United World Wrestling Press

JAPAN (February 9) -- Yui SUSAKI (JPN) is on path to greatness. The Japanese wrestler managed to showed up on the wrestling when won three back-to-back U17 world titles from 2014 to 2016.

While many would take time to jump to senior level, Susaki wrestled at the 2017 Paris World Championships aged 17 years and won gold medal at 48kg. She would seen beat Mariya STADNIK (AZE) at the Klippan Lady Open before winning gold at 2018 World Championships. Two U20 world titles further strengthened Susaki's resume as she remained unbeaten in international wrestling.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Susaki claimed her first Olympic gold, without giving up a point and etched her name in history.

WATCH THE BEST OF YUI SUSAKI (JPN) HERE

And it had to be Susaki to complete the Golden Grand Slam of wrestling. After winning U17, U20 and senior world titles, and Olympic gold, she needed to win the U23 world title to complete the Slam. In October of 2022 in Pontevedra, Spain, Susaki would go on to become the first wrestler in history to achieve the feat.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, four-time world champion Susaki suffered her first international loss to Vinesh PHOGAT (IND), which remains her only loss in international career.