Women's Day

Women's Day: 10 moments that shaped women's wrestling

Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 21:53 By Taylor GREGORIO

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CROSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (March 8) -- Throughout wrestling history, efforts have been made to make the sport more inclusive. Women's wrestling emerged as the top priority for United World Wrestling.

Over the years, the organization has taken various steps to uplift and improve the standard of women's wrestling around the world. Here are ten moments that changed women's wrestling.

1987 – First women’s wrestling World Championships

While Greco-Roman and Freestyle have a long history of World Championships, women got their first shot at world titles in 1987 when the first women's World Championships was held. The inaugural tournament took place in Lorenskog, Norway with nine weights.

A total of 48 female wrestlers participated in this World Championships.

The champions at the inaugural edition were Brigitte WEIGERT (BEL) at 44kg, Anne HOLTEN (NOR) at 47kg, Anne HALVORSEN (NOR) at 50kg, Sylvie VAN GUCHT (FRA) at 53kg, Isabelle DOURTHE (FRA) at 57kg, Ine BARLIE (NOR) at 65kg, Georgette JEAN (FRA) at 70kg and Patricia ROSSIGNOL (FRA) at 75 kg.

1989 – First combined World Championships

Two years after its world debut, women’s wrestling shared the stage with the other two styles. A combined World Championships was held in Martigny, Switzerland.

Apart from most European countries in the participation, wrestlers from Japan, China, Chinese Taipei, Venezuela and the USA were also part of this competition. 

53 wrestlers took part in this competition and the champions included Shoko YOSHIMURA (JPN) and Ming-Hsiu CHEN (TPE).

Since then, women's wrestling World Championships has been held every year barring 2004 -- the year of the Athens Olympics.

2004 – Women’s wrestling makes Olympic debut in Athens

With momentum building around the sport, women’s wrestling was showcased on the world’s biggest stage at the 2004 Athens Olympics. With four weight classes, 11 different countries were represented in the Games, and seven of those won medals, including gold medals for Japan, Ukraine and China.

2013 - Increase from four to six weight classes at Olympics

In 2013, wrestling received devasting news that it was in danger of being dropped from the Olympic program. UWW responded quickly, making necessary changes to the sport, which included gender equity and increasing the women’s weights from four to six. It ultimately helped secure wrestling’s place as an Olympic core sport.

The change was implemented in the 2016 Rio Games, where Greco-Roman, Freestyle and women each had six weight classes. Previously, Greco-Roman and Freestyle each had six weights, while women had four.  

2015 – Yoshida wins 13th World title

At the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, USA, Saori YOSHIDA (JPN) set a bar that is yet to be broken. She won her 13th straight World title, spanning from 2002 to 2015 with 11 of those coming at 55kg and the last two at 53kg.

In World Championship action, Yoshida was undefeated. In addition to an outstanding number of World titles, Yoshida also has three Olympic golds in four attempts.

2016 -- Icho first woman to win four Olympic golds

At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Kaori ICHO (JPN) earned legendary status, becoming the first female athlete to win four Olympic gold medals. For the historic win, Icho defeated Valeriia KOBLOVA (RWF), 3-2, in the 58kg final.

Icho’s first Olympic gold came over Sara MC MANN (USA) at 63kg at the 2004 Olympics. After winning her second Olympic title at the 2008 Beijing Games over Alena KATACHOVA (RUS) at 63kg, Icho considered retiring but pressed on for two more Olympic Games, which included a 2012 win over Rui Xue JING (CHN), again at 63kg. Overall, Icho went undefeated internationally from 2003 to 2016 with a forfeit in 2007.

2016 -- Amri becomes first African to win Olympic medal

The Rio Olympics witnessed another significant moment when Marwa AMRI (TUN) became the first female wrestler from Africa to win an Olympic medal. She claimed the bronze medal in the 58kg weight class.

In the bronze medal bout, Amri defeated Yuliya Ratkevich (AZE), 6-3, after executing a four-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in the bout.

A year later, Amri became the first African to reach the 2017 World Championships final in Paris. On the same day, Odunayo ADEKUOROYE (NGR) achieved the same feat as she reached the final at 55kg.

2018 - Youth Olympic Games achieve gender balance

In an effort to become more gender equitable, wrestling increased the number of female participants in Buenos Aires to 50, up from 32 participants in Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014.  With that number, the participants in women's wrestling was equal to freestyle and Greco-Roman. 

The adjustment was part of a larger effort by the International Olympic Committee to meet its goal to make the 2018 Youth Olympic Games the first-ever gender-equal Games.

2021 -- Mensah Stock becomes first Black female to win Olympic gold

After a 2019 World title run, Tamyra MENSAH STOCK (USA) was a favorite to take the crown at 68kg at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Expectedly, she reached the final in Tokyo against Blessing OBORUDUDU (NGR).

The match held a lot of significance as it was the first Olympic final in wrestling’s history to feature two Black women and ensured that for the first time, a Black woman would stand atop the Olympic podium. Ultimately, it was Mensah Stock who emerged with a 4-1 win, an Olympic title and a groundbreaking moment for the sport.

CWGFor the first time in wrestling's history, the 2022 Commonwealth Games were officiated by majority women. The 16 female referees who participated in Birmingham post for a photo after the competition. (Photo: Helena Curtis)

2022 -- CWG becomes the first major tournament to be officiated by a majority of females

In an initiative to achieve gender parity, UWW launched a program to help educate, train and bring up more female referees within the sport. As a part of its strategic plan, UWW, along with the Commonwealth Games Federation, agreed to include a majority of women officials at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.  

Of the 21 referees assigned to the event, 15 were women for a total of 70 percent female representation. Additionally, one of the Referee Delegate positions and other official positions were held by women.

#WrestleParis

Valizadeh, Mahdavi named in IOC Refugee Team for 2024 Paris Olympics

Thursday, May 2, 2024 - 16:53 By United World Wrestling Press

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (May 2) -- Wrestlers Iman MAHDAVI and Jamal VALIZADEH were among the 36 athletes from 11 different countries across 12 sports were named by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to the IOC Refugee Olympic Team for Paris 2024.

Mahdavi and Valizadeh were selected to the IOC Refugee Olympic Team through the support of the Refugee Athletes Scholarship Programme, funded by the IOC's Olympic Solidarity program. The two wrestlers are supported by the hosting national federations of Italy and France and the United World Wrestling Development Department for Technical Assistance and participation in UWW events.

At the 2024 Paris Games in August, the two will be representing different styles with Valizadeh gearing up for Greco-Roman 60kg and Mahdavi set to compete in Freestyle 74kg.

Mahdavi was born to be a wrestler, following in his father's footsteps. Through his unwavering love for the sport and fierce determination, it was no surprise that success followed the now-29-year-old. He won seven junior national titles and quickly climbed the ranks in his nation.

But in 2020, that was all derailed as Mahdavi fled his country and became a refugee. He moved to Milan, Italy, and applied for asylum. He found a full-time job in Milan and friends that soon became family. Through all the uncertainties, one thing remained – his love for wrestling.

Mahdavi found a practice facility in Milan, one with high-level training partners that helped rekindle his Olympic hopes. He worked out five days a week, and after three years of struggle, Mahdavi returned to the mat under the UWW Refugee team.

Mahdavi's UWW Refugee team debut came at the 2023 European Championships, where he registered a 12th-place finish at 74kg, one of the most competitive brackets of the tournament. After two months of tweaks and improvements, Mahdavi achieved a career-best result – a bronze medal at the City of Sassari Tournament. He continued taking the mat every chance he had, wrestling in the Poland Open and World Championships, where he finished in fifth and 18th, respectively.

This year, Mahdavi's competition calendar will feature three events – two of which will be tune-up competitions. He already participated in the European Championships and will use the World OG Qualifier (May 11-12) as a warm up competition for the Paris Games, where he will compete August 9-10.

It is to be noted that Mahdavi will be in Istanbul on a participating basis and not for qualification. The same is true for Valizadeh who will compete in Istanbul but not to qualify.

Like Mahdavi, Valizadeh shared a similar love for wrestling from a young age. He became one of Iran's brightest talents through his hard work and commitment to wrestling.

Despite having a bright future in the sport, Valizadeh was forced to put wrestling in the rearview and leave Iran in 2014 for a better life. He ended up in Turkiye, where he worked nearly 16 hours a day to make ends meet.

But still, Valizadeh knew there was no way he could reach his ultimate goal – the Olympic Games – living in Turkiye.

After two years, Valizadeh departed Turkiye by boat and arrived in France where he trains with the French Greco-Roman National Team and lives in Metz.

Although he had been away from the sport for many years, Valizadeh regained his passion for wrestling and returned to the mat in 2023 as a UWW Refugee team member. He competed six times last year, including the European and World Championships.

This season, in addition to his appearances at the Henri Deglane and European Championships in GR 60kg, Valizadeh will participate, for experience, in the World OG Qualifier (May 9-10) before wrestling on home soil at the Paris Olympic Games, August 5-6.

For more on the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, visit olympics.com.