Anti-Doping

Wrestling to Join with Newly Formed International Testing Agency Through Tokyo 2020

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 15:32 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 18) – United World Wrestling’s bureau has agreed to sign with the International Testing Agency (ITA) to oversee and manage the sport’s anti-doping program.  Wrestling joins a growing list of International Federations who’ve signed with ITA in the past few months.

ITA will be in charge of wrestling’s entire anti-doping program, which includes in-competition and out-of-competition testing, results management including decision for positive tests, therapeutic use exemptions, and athlete education. United World Wrestling will remain responsible for being compliant to the WADA code.

“We are excited to join with the ITA to help ensure that our athletes have access to proper information about anti-doping policies and are ensured of clean competition,” said United World Wrestling president and IOC Executive board member Nenad Lalovic. “We believe the ITA will provide a good solution for wrestling by adding a number of excellent services to the organization.”

The ITA, which will take over all testing on January 1, 2018, recently old Inside the Games their mission was to restore confidence in the anti-doping system.

"We look forward to providing the global sport community and athletes with our expertise in clean sport," said the Foundation Board's President Valérie Fourneyron, the former French Sports Minister. "Our primary focus will be to regain trust by acting upon doping issues evenly across all sports worldwide."

Austria Develops Wrestling Future at UWW Performance Centre A.C. Wals

Wednesday, June 17, 2026 - 08:50 By Jörg Richter

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WALS-SIEZENHEIM, Austria (June 16) -- Anyone in Wals-Siezenheim, Austria, looking for the local wrestling centre is directed towards the fire station. Standing in front of it, you look up at the tall tower where the hoses are hung up to dry after call-outs, and at the garages housing the emergency vehicles. But the floor above the firefighters belongs to the wrestlers.

The training centre of wrestling champions A.C. Wals was inaugurated in 1994, completely renovated in 2022 and, a year later, declared the sixth United World Wrestling training centre worldwide by UWW President Nenad LALOVIC.

The former mayor of Wals-Siezenheim, Ludwig BIERINGER, visits the training centre almost daily and can recount stories about the development of the wrestling venue, as well as the sporting stronghold of Wals-Siezenheim, home to the Red Bull family.

His words, "if, by building the wrestling centre, we manage to keep even one young person away from drugs, then this investment will have been worth it,” are likely to hold just as much significance today as they did 32 years ago, when the training hall was completed.

h In Austria, wrestlers are battling against the dominance of winter sports; whilst every child knows the ski jumpers, downhill and slalom skiers, wrestlers have to work incredibly hard to also make it into the spotlight of the mainstream media.

In Toni MARCHL, the Austrian Wrestling Federation has a dedicated and passionate leader who has given himself fully to the growth of the sport. His extensive network spans business, politics, and the highest levels of international sport, including UWW European Council President Karl Martin Dittmann and UWW President Lalovic, with whom he has built a strong and trusted relationship.

AC WalsFitness centre at A.C. Wals. (Photo: Austrian National Wrestling Centre)

Back to the training centre in Wals, which was designated a UWW higperformance centre in 2022, wrestlers from all over the world now come together to train. This naturally also benefits the ORSV wrestlers, who can now train alongside the world’s best on a selective basis – and do so at home, on their own mats. What’s more, thanks to the efforts of ORSV wrestlers can now be found in positions supported by the sports programme within the army, as well as in the police, judiciary and customs services.

A small boarding school accommodates male and female athletes from all over Austria who combine school, vocational training or work with the demands of competitive sport in Wals-Siezenheim, whilst also travelling there on an ad hoc basis for centralised training sessions.

A large team of coaches has also been established to pass on their experience to the wrestlers. Georg MARCHL (Freestyle), Jeno BODI and Amer HRUSTANOVIC (Greco-Roman), and Elena PITTL (Women's Wrestling) lead a well-trained and dedicated team of coaches, supported and supervised by sports director Benedikt ERNST, and trained in collaboration with former German heavyweight wrestler Sven THIELE. The medical sector is also well-equipped in Wals-Siezenheim, with physiotherapy and sports medicine staff.

AC WalsA.C. Wals

The UWW Performance Centre is having an impact on the larger Austrian clubs and federations, which are following its example in developing talent under ever-improving conditions, so that an ever-stronger elite is emerging from the existing base. But no champion falls from the sky, no talent becomes a world champion overnight; everything takes time.

The ORSV is firmly committed to the long-term development of its athletes, investing in homegrown talent and building a sustainable future for Austrian wrestling. This philosophy is reflected in the growth of wrestlers such as Markus RAGGINER, Daniel GASTL, Simon MARCHL, Benjamin GREIL, Johannes LUDESCHER, Aker ACHMIDT and, last but not least, 10-time international medallist Martina KUENZ.

Projects like the UWW Performance Centre in Wals-Siezenheim represent exactly the kind of investment that nurtures the next generation, creates lasting foundations for the sport, and ensures that Austria's wrestling future is built from within.

 - by Jorg RITCHER, Ringsport Magazine