Development

UWW Training PE Teachers at ISF Gymasiade in Bahrain

By United World Wrestling Press

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/.

#WrestleAlexandria

Eight Golds Power Nigeria to Women's Team Title

By United World Wrestling Press

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (May 2) -- For a second day in a row, Nigeria was stopped from sweeping the gold medals in Women's Wrestling at the African Championships in Alexandria.

After winning four out of five golds on Friday, Nigeria was well on course to win all five remaining golds on Saturday but Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) defeated Ebi BIOGOS (NGR), 6-2, in the 72kg final to halt the march.

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Sghaier, wrestling for the first time since the 2024 Paris Olympics, used a rather dangerous trip to score her first takedown and then rolled Biogos for two more points. Down 4-2, Biogos tried scoring the final few seconds but Sghaier scored a go-behind for the win, her third African gold.

But the evening began with Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) winning her sixth African title after beating Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 6-0, in a controlled 50kg final.

Genesis began with a stepout before using a snapdown to go-behind takedown to lead 3-0. Ayachi was called for passivity and put on the 30-second activity clock. As Ayachi failed to score any points, Genesis got another point to lead 4-0 at the break.

A simple go-behind takedown in the second period for Genesis made it 6-0, a lead she defended for the remaining 1:24 to win the gold medal.

At 55kg, Adijat IDRIS (NGR) won all three bouts in the round-robin bracket without giving up a single point to claim the gold medal, her second straight at the African Championships.

Esther ASAOLU (NGR), making her senior debut, then added the third gold medal by winning all her bouts at 59kg in the round-robin bracket. She began with a victory via fall over Kavelishimwe ABRAHAM (NAM), then a 10-0 win over Gloria NIYONKURU (BDI) before beating Chaima DAHI (TUN) and Mariam MESBAH (EGY) by an identical 10-0 score.

Though she lost to Asaolu, Abraham went on to win her remaining three bouts to claim the silver medal, the first in the history of Namibia in Women's Wrestling. She was also the first woman wrestler from Namibia to ever medal internationally when she won the silver medal at the U20 African Championships in 2023. She repeated in 2024 and on Saturday, she made history at the senior level.

The fourth gold medal for Nigeria came at 65kg after three-time African champion Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR) swept through her three bouts, winning 10-0, 10-0 and via fall.

Photo

RESULTS

50kg
GOLD: Miesinnei GENESIS (NGR) df. Chahrazed AYACHI (TUN), 6-0

BRONZE: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Malak AHMED (EGY), 6-3

55kg
GOLD: Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
SILVER: Hagar ELSHAKHS (EGY)
BRONZE: Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN)

59kg
GOLD: Esther ASAOLU (NGR)
SILVER: Kavelishimwe ABRAHAM (NAM)
BRONZE: Mariam MESBAH (EGY)

65kg
GOLD: Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
SILVER: Ritag ELMALTY (EGY)
BRONZE: Lec ANDE (CAF)

72kg
GOLD: Zaineb SGHAIER (TUN) df. Ebi BIOGOS (NGR), 6-2

BRONZE: Rosie TABORA (COD) df. Aimelda NDIFFO (CMR), 12-2
BRONZE: Heba IBRAHIM (EGY) df. Yasmine BOUREGBA (ALG), via fall (6-2)