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Link to original content: http://web.archive.org/web/20200822233136/https://www.olympic.org/wrestling-greco-roman
Greco-Roman Wrestling - Summer Olympic Sport
The Wayback Machine - http://web.archive.org/web/20200823031113/https://www.olympic.org/wrestling-greco-roman
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Wrestling Greco-Roman


In Greco-Roman wrestling, arguably the oldest competitive sport in the world, competitors use only their arms and upper bodies to attack.

The oldest sport

With the possible exception of athletics, wrestling is recognised as the world’s oldest competitive sport. Indeed cave drawings of wrestlers have been found dating as far back as 3000 BC. The sport was introduced into the ancient Olympics in 708 BC.

The main event

When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, wrestling became a focus of the Games. This was because organisers considered it historically significant; indeed Greco-Roman wrestling was deemed a pure reincarnation of ancient Greek and Roman wrestling.

Greco vs freestyle

In Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers use only their arms and upper bodies to attack, and can only hold those same parts of their opponents. As the name suggests, freestyle is a much more open form in which wrestlers also use their legs and may hold opponents above or below the waist.

Olympic history

The 1900 Games were the only ones where wrestling was not present in any shape or form. As from the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Greco-Roman wrestling has always been included on the programme. Since the 1920 Antwerp Games, there have been both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling competitions.

Today, the nations dominating this sport are the Russian Federation, closely followed by the USA in freestyle wrestling. Iran, Turkey and Mongolia, countries in which wrestling is the national sport, also have some very high-level champions.

At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the Greco-Roman wrestling programme was modified. Only eight weight categories are now represented in each style, as opposed to the 10 that had been included since the 1972 Games in Munich. Since the 2004 Games in Athens, men have competed in only seven weight categories.

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Gallery

Buenos Aires 2018 - Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 60kg
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Buenos Aires 2018 - Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 60kg

Giorgi Chkhikvadze of Georgia (blue) and Elmirbek Sadyrov of Kyrgyzstan (yellow) during the Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 60kg on Day 6 of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games at the Asia Pavilion, Youth Olympic Park on October 12, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
IOC/OIS
Buenos Aires 2018 - Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 45kg
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Buenos Aires 2018 - Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 45kg

Amirreza Mohammadreza Dehbozorgi of Islamic Republic of Iran and Jeremy Renzo Peralta Gonzalez of Ecuador in action during the Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 45kg on Day 6 of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games at the Asia Pavilion, Youth Olympic Park on October 12, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
IOC/OIS
Buenos Aires 2018 - Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 45kg
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Buenos Aires 2018 - Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 45kg

Jeremy Renzo Peralta Gonzalez of Ecuador and Amirreza Mohammadreza Dehbozorgi of Islamic Republic of Iran in action during the Wrestling Greco-Roman - Men’s 45kg on Day 6 of the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games at the Asia Pavilion, Youth Olympic Park on October 12, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
IOC/OIS
Wrestling - Greco-Roman 98kg Men
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Wrestling - Greco-Roman 98kg Men

Artur Aleksanyan of Armenia competes against Yasmany Daniel Lugo Cabrera of Cuba in the Men's Greco-Roman 98 kg Gold Medal final bout on Day 11 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 2 on August 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Getty Images
Wrestling - Greco-Roman 66kg Men
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Wrestling - Greco-Roman 66kg Men

Shmagi Bolkvadze of Georgia competes against Tomohiro Inoue of Japan in the Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg Bronze Medal bout on Day 11 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 2 on August 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Getty Images
Wrestling - Greco-Roman 66kg Men
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Wrestling - Greco-Roman 66kg Men

Shmagi Bolkvadze of Georgia celebrates winning Bronze against Tomohiro Inoue of Japan in the Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg Bronze Medal bout on Day 11 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Carioca Arena 2 on August 16, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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