Development

Wrestling Present at 3rd Annual IOC-IF Gender Equality in Leadership Forum

Thursday, April 12, 2018 - 21:04 By Tim Foley

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LAUSAUNNE, Switzerland (April 12) – United World Wrestling sent two top leaders to this month's 3rd Annual IOC-IF Gender Equality in Leadership Forum in Lausanne.

Farnaz Panahidez, a member of United World Wrestling’s Women’s Commission member and Director of International Relations of Iran Wrestling Federation, presented at the forum alongside UWW Development Director Deqa Niamkey. The duo on the advancements of UWW in gender equality and women’s wrestling on the panel of “meaningful Inclusion in decision making roles.”

Ms. Panahidez and Ms. Niamkey were joined on stage by World Rugby President, Mr. Beaumont, International Gymnastics Federation President, Mr. Watanabe, FISA Council Member, Ms. Ravensberger and Vice President of Luge, Mrs. Del Negro.

The forum included more than 150 participants presenting on a variety of topics, with the intention of further improving gender balance throughout all levels of international sport. The event was highlighted by the IOC Gender Equality Review Project recommendations, which includes 25 areas of focus to promote gender quality across international sport.

The forum was introduced by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

Highlighting the discussions were interactive panel sessions on women’s role in their respective sport’s election processes, the portrayal of sports women in the media, and a discussion of best practices by national and international federations in promoting women in sport.

United World Wrestling’s involvement in the forum was another example of the organization’s firm commitment to gender equality. Over the past few years United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic has taken several steps to ensure the inclusion of more women in the sport’s decision-making positions. He has also worked with partners to an increase in the number of women’s competitions and provide more visibility to women’s wrestling.

The Development Department, along with the Women and Sport Commission, have been tasked with turning the President’s commitment to gender equality and related initiatives into concrete action.

#WrestleZagreb

Zagreb Open Flashback: Iran, U.S. opened season with success

Monday, January 19, 2026 - 10:21 By Vinay Siwach

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ZAGREB, Croatia (January 18) -- United World Wrestling's 2026 season will kick off with the Ranking Series in Zagreb February 4. The recent memories of Zagreb may be the September World Championships but the 2025 season also kicked off with the Ranking Series in the Croatian capital.

Iran and the United States had strong performances in the first of the four stops of the Ranking Series, a theme which continued throughout the 2025 season as the U.S. dominated Freestyle while Iran dominated Greco-Roman.

Women's Wrestling participants were less in numbers but still saw U.S. and UWW wrestlers share gold medals.

Here's a trip down memory lane of the 2025 Zagreb Open Ranking Series before the 2026 season kicks off:

WATCH ZAGREB OPEN 2025 TOP BOUTS HERE

Freestyle

A young Iranian team snapped four gold medals in Zagreb with Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) winning gold at 61kg, Abbas EBRAHIM (IRI) winning at 65kg, Amirhossein FIROUZPOUR (IRI) became champion at 92kg and Amirreza MASOUMI (IRI) winning the 125kg gold.

For the U.S., Spencer LEE (USA) kicked off the season with 57kg with gold, Zahid VALENCIA (USA) won at 86kg and Kyle SNYDER (USA) at 97kg. Both Valencia and Snyder went on to win gold at the World Championships later in the season.

Azerbaijan, Slovakia and France won one gold each, with Kanan HEYBATOV (AZE) winning at 70kg for Azerbaijan, Tajmuraz SALKAZANOV (SVK) winning gold at 74kg, and Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA) winning at 79kg for France.

Iran dominance began when Ahmad JAVAN (IRI) won gold at 61kg, beating the likes of Nuraddin NUVROZOV (AZE), Nashon GARRETT (USA), Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO) and Ebrahim KHARI (IRI). Javan would later win a silver medal at the World Championships. At 65kg, Ebrahim held his own in a thrilling final against Joseph MCKENNA (USA) to grab the second gold for Iran.

Young superstars Firouzpour and Masoumi put up a show to win gold medals at 92kg and 125kg respectively.

Lee was making a returning to competition six months after winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. He won the Zagreb Open gold with rather ease. For the U.S., Valencia saw himself win gold at 86kg outscoring his opponents 35-4 in four bouts. In the final, Valencia defeated world bronze medalist Arsenii DZHIOEV (AZE), 8-0.

Snyder opened his season with a 33-1 scoring run in three bouts at 97kg in Zagreb. In the final, he easily defeated Abolfazl BABALOO (IRI).

Heybatov gave early warnings to the 70kg field by winning gold in Zagreb, a run which included wins over Austin GOMEZ (MEX), two back-to-back wins over Iranian wrestlers including a 12-1 one again Sina KHALILI (IRI) in the final. The two would wrestle again towards the end of the year at the U23 World Championships. Heybatov won that final with a 9-4 score.

Two veterans, Salkazanov and Khadjiev, were at their best in the opening Ranking Series tournament. Salkazanov blanked everyone, including winning 4-0 against David CARR (USA) in the final, to win 74kg gold.

Khadjiev had a tougher bat but managed to win the 79kg gold with a 5-3 win over Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) in the final. The French wrestler would later win silver at the European Championships.