Development

UWW Training PE Teachers at ISF Gymasiade in Bahrain

Monday, December 2, 2024 - 12:18 By United World Wrestling Press

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Bahrain (December 2) – United World Wrestling partnered with the International School Sports Federation (ISF) to train PE teachers at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. The ISF Gymnasiade event took place from 23-31 October. This annual event involves competitions for sport school athletes over 26 sports. Wrestling has been a part of this event in each edition. During the Gymnasiade, ISF also provides training to local PE teachers to potentially implement more sports within their curriculum.

UWW was fortunate to be able to provide training sessions to the PE teachers on using the Wrestle4Fun curriculum. The training was led by UWW Educators Ahmed Khedhri (TUN) and Rafael Galva (PUR).

The training was held on 25 October and included 51 participants. The training included 2-hour theoretical and 2-hour practical sessions, with participants actively participating in Wrestle4Fun activities. These activities provided the participants with the advantages of adding wrestling to physical education. “Collaborating with PE teachers provided a very valuable experience. I hope this experience will become more common, allowing wrestling to be part of the physical education curriculum,” said Mr. Khedhri.

Mr. Galva also participated in the ISF International Educational Forum. During the forum, Mr. Galva discussed Promoting a Healthy Lifestyle to School Kids. He also spoke about the importance of positive role modeling from parents and coaches. 

ISFParticipants go through the Fun and Skills Zone at the ISF Gymnasiade in Bahrain. (Photo: United World Wrestling)

Mr. Galva and Mr. Khedhri also conducted sessions at the Fun and Skills Zone throughout the event. This was a chance for young athletes to try wrestling games and activities. This included athletes from many different sports and countries.

The wrestling competition was held on October 28-30 and included participation in all three styles. The competition had 321 athletes from 18 countries participating. 

Wrestle4Fun is developmentally appropriate for all age levels and designed to support girls’ and boys’ physical literacy journeys. It has five stages based on different developmental levels. Each stage has 15 lessons. In total, there are 75 lessons with over 200 games and activities. The entire Wrestle4Fun programme can be found on the Academy platform.

The UWW Academy can be found at https://academy.uww.org/.

Olympic silver medalist Oborududu announces retirement

Saturday, June 7, 2025 - 07:10 By Vinay Siwach

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NIGERIA (June 6) -- Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR) announced her retirement last week, ending a memorable career in wrestling.

The 36-year-old called it quits at the National Sports Festival in Abeokuta, a tournament she made her first appearance as a young wrestler in 2006.

In a career spanning 19 years, Oborududu won the African Championships 13 times, became the first African wrestler to win Olympic silver medal in Women's Wrestling and finished fifth at the Paris Olympics.

Oborududu participated won her first gold at the African Championships in 2010 and maintained her winning streak at the tournament for 15 years. 

“I want to thank everyone who has been part of my journey: the Nigeria Wrestling Federation led by Daniel IGALI, the board members, my teammates, and my family,” Oborududu was quoted as saying by the Nigeria media. "I created a lot of memories, but my most memorable one was the Tokyo Olympics, which ignited hope across Africa. It was the first-ever medal by an African woman in wrestling at the Olympics, and I hope more will come for future wrestlers."

At the sports festival, Oborududu helped Team Bayelsa clinch gold medal in her final bout at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival. He later received a farewell from teammates, officials and fans.