UWW Live

UWW LIVE: Frank Staebler: Three-Time World Champion

By United World Wrestling Press

Frank STAEBLER (GER) has been one of the world's most successful Greco-Roman wrestlers over the past five years. 

The 31-year-old German has captured three world titles since 2015, and also has two world bronze medals on his wrestling resume.

Staebler won his first world title in 2015 at the World Championships in Las Vegas at 66kg. After competing at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Staebler added back-to-back world titles in 2017 and 2018 at 71kg and 72kg respectively. Last year, Staebler finished with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Nur-Sultan. 

Staebler joined Eric Olanowski to talk about how wrestling has impacted his life, how his loss to Olympic champion Ismael BORRERO (CUB) in Nur-Sultan drives him every day and how he plans on becoming a keynote speaker after retiring after the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
 

Development

Saudi Wrestling Federation growing wrestling through education

By United World Wrestling Press

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (12 October) – The Saudi Wrestling Federation has been organizing coaching and referee courses to grow and develop wrestling within their country over the past few years. Their hard work led to their first-ever silver medal at the U20 Asian Championships. Manthr Jndu achieved this at 63kg in Greco-Roman.

In late April, they organized two more courses (Level 1 Coaching Course and Introduction to Refereeing Course) for new coaches and referees. The Saudi Wrestling Federation held these courses in partnership with United World Wrestling.  

Mr. Hassan MADANY (EGY) and Mr. Juan Luis MAREN (CUB) conducted the Level 1 Coaching Course, and Mr. Sherif HALAWA (EGY) and Mr. Mohsen YAMANI (KSA—Chief of Saudi Referees) led the Introduction to Refereeing course. The courses were held from 28 April to 2 May and included 91 participants (22 women) from 8 nationalities, including participants from EGY, MAR, SYR, SUD, NGR, JOR, KGZ, and KSA residing in Saudi Arabia.

The coaching course had 71 participants, including 17 women coaches. The Level 1 Course is the Introduction to Coaching and Safety. During the course, the participants participated in theoretical and practical sessions. Some of the topics covered were discovery games, introducing a new technique, coaching skills, giving feedback, risk management, age, and developmental stage characteristics.  The coaches actively practiced and developed their skills during the course through practical evaluations. Overall, the coaches gained important knowledge and skills to help them improve in their role as coaches.  

The Introduction to Refereeing Course had 20 participants, including 5 women referees. The participants learned the foundations of what it takes to be a great referee.  The areas covered during the course included the safety of the athletes, evaluation of holds, referee mechanics, positioning, and controlling the bout.  The participants were active during the course and could practice their skills through practical evaluations. 

During the courses, there were sessions involving both referees and coaches, led by Mr. Halawa. This allowed both groups to work together and better learn wrestling rules.