Greco-Roman, Graeco-Roman, classic wrestling or French wrestling is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been in every edition of the summer Olympics held since 1904. This style of wrestling forbids holds below the waist, which is the main feature that differentiates it from freestyle wrestling. This restriction results in an emphasis on throws, because a wrestler cannot use trips to bring an opponent to the ground or hook/grab the opponent's leg to avoid being thrown.
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling is conducted under different rules and is termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. American collegiate women's wrestling is conducted under freestyle rules.
Wrestling competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, were held at the China Agricultural University Gymnasium from 12–21 August 2008. It was split into two disciplines, Freestyle and Greco-Roman which are further divided into different weight categories. Men competed in both disciplines whereas women only took part in the freestyle events with 18 gold medals being awarded. This was the second Olympics with women's wrestling as an event.
The World Wrestling Championships are the Amateur Wrestling World Championships organized by the United World Wrestling. The Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling tournament began in 1904, and the Men's Freestyle Wrestling tournament began in 1951. The Women's Freestyle Wrestling tournament was first held in 1987.
Rıza Kayaalp is a Turkish wrestler competing in the 130 kg division of Greco-Roman wrestling. He is a four times world champion and eleven times European champion. He is a graduate of the Aksaray University Physical Education and Sports Academy and studies his master's degree at Bozok University.
Ivo Serafimov Angelov is an amateur Bulgarian Greco-Roman wrestler, who played for the men's lightweight category. In 2011, Angelov had won a bronze medal for his division at the World Wrestling Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, and silver at the European Wrestling Championships in Dortmund, Germany. Angelov is also a member of Lovech Wrestling Club, and is coached and trained by Bratan Tzenov.
Stig-André Berge is a Greco-Roman wrestler from Norway who competes in the 59–60 kg category. He won bronze medals at the 2014 World Championships and 2016 Olympics. 2018 World Championships runner-up.
The European Wrestling Championships is the second oldest international wrestling competition of the modern world and the main wrestling championships in Europe. It predates World Wrestling Championships and other regional wrestling championships and is second only to the wrestling events at the Olympics. From its inception in 1898 till 1927 only Greco-Roman wrestling was contested. Since 1929 separate freestyle wrestling events were held as well. Since 1970 the two Olympic wrestling styles were contested together during the same unified events. Since 1973 Sambo wrestling was included into the championships programme along with GR and freestyle wrestling. Since 2014 associated traditional wrestling styles recognized globally by UWW were incorporated into the annual championships schedule.
Wrestling has deep historical roots in Armenia. Wrestling was practiced in the Armenian Highlands since ancient times. Armenians have their own variant of the sport called Kokh. It was recorded that King Tiridates III of Armenia won the Ancient Olympic Games in wrestling in 281 AD. During the Soviet era, wrestling became one of the most practiced sports in Armenia and remained popular after Armenia's independence in 1991. Armenian athletes have been successful at international competitions in the last two decades. Many have become World and European champions, both in Greco-Roman and Freestyle wrestling. Over half of the fifteen Armenian Olympic medalists and the two gold medal winners have been wrestlers. The sport is overseen by the Wrestling Federation of Armenia.
Mark Madsen is a Danish professional mixed martial artist and former Greco-Roman wrestler. As a mixed martial artist, he currently competes in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Stepan Mailovich Maryanyan is a Russian Greco-Roman wrestler of Armenian descent. He came in first place at the 2013 Wrestling World Cup and was runner-up at the 2015 Russian Nationals Greco-Roman. During the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Maryanyan won a gold medal for 59 kg Greco-Roman wrestling. This was the first ever gold for Russia at the European Games. 2018 World Champion at 63 kilos.
Zholaman Sharshenbekov is a Kyrgyz Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a two-time silver medalist at the World Wrestling Championships. He is also a three-time medalist, including gold, at the Asian Wrestling Championships. In 2020, he won the gold medal in the 60 kg event at the Individual Wrestling World Cup held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Men's Greco-Roman 60 kilograms competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, took place on 1–2 August 2021 at the Makuhari Messe in Mihama-ku.
Armenia competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era.
Victor Ciobanu is a Moldovan Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the gold medal in the 60 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. He is the first wrestler representing Moldova to win a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the World Wrestling Championships.
Gevorg Gharibyan is an Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler. He won the gold medal in the 60 kg event at the 2020 European Wrestling Championships held in Rome, Italy.
G'Angelo Hancock is an American Greco-Roman wrestler. He won one of the bronze medals in the 97 kg event at the 2021 World Wrestling Championships held in Oslo, Norway. At the 2020 Pan American Wrestling Championships held in Ottawa, Canada, he won the gold medal in the 97 kg event. He is also a silver medalist at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru. He represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Donior Islamov is a Moldovan Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a two-time bronze medalist at the European Wrestling Championships.
Kerem Kamal is a Turkish wrestler competing in the 60 kg division of Greco-Roman wrestling. He is a member of İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. He won the gold medal in the 60 kg event at the 2022 European Wrestling Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.
Murad Mammadov is an Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a bronze medalist at the World Wrestling Championships and two-time medalist at the European Wrestling Championships.
