ATHENS (October 12) – The 2015 Veteran World Championships are set to begin Tuesday, October 13 with a record 700 wrestlers from 41 countries set to compete across the six day event. The 2015 Championships will be the first-ever to feature Veterans divisions for women’s wrestling.

Team USA brought the largest delegation with more than 120 athletes followed by Iran with 100 people, Turkey with 90 and Russia with 60.

“It is an honor for us than so many wrestlers have chosen to participate in this championship,” said Mr. Kostas THANOS, chairman of the Greek Wrestling Federation. “We will do our best to satisfy them both in and out of the palestra, in order to give them great memories from this event.”

Two-time world silver medallist Marie ZIEGLER (USA) is on her first trip to the Veteran World Championships, “I am so happy to be in Greece and definitely looking forward to competing. I truly believe that we will have a spectacular championship because we all, still, love wrestling and never stop working out,” said Ziegler.

The opening ceremony will feature a 60-minute theatrical play, which describes the origin of wrestling and its place in the Olympic Games, and sponsored by Greek National Tourism Organization (EOT).