Summer Olympic Sports >> Wrestling Greco-Roman

ABOUT

When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, organizers considered wrestling so historically significant that it became a focus of the Games.  They remembered tales of wrestling competition in 708 BC, of oiled bodies fighting on sand in the ancient Games.  Greco-Roman wrestling was deemed a pure reincarnation of ancient Greek and Roman wrestling.  Eight years later, Olympic officials added a second category with far less history and far less grandeur, but great popularity.  Commonly known as "catch as catch can", freestyle wrestling had become the staple of 19th-century fairs and festivals in Great Britain and the United States, a form of professional entertainment.  Like Greco-Roman wrestling, it became a staple of the Games themselves.  In Greco-Roman competition, now dominated by Russia, wrestlers use only their arms and upper bodies to attack.  In freestyle, wrestlers also use their legs and may hold opponents above or below the waist.  The Olympic Greco-Roman medalists in 1996 represented 16 different countries, with this figure growing to 15 in Sydney and 16 in Athens.

COMPETITION

At the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 there were seven events (weight classes) in men's Greco-Roman.  A total of 344 athletes competed in the three disciplines of this sport, freestyle, and Greco-Roman and women’s wrestling.

LIST OF EVENTS

• - 55kg Men

• 55 - 60kg Men

• 60 - 66kg Men

• 66 - 74kg Men

• 74 - 84kg Men

• 84 - 96kg Men