Greco-Roman, Graeco-Roman, or classic 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.
At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, nine wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were four weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and five weight classes in freestyle wrestling.
Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the United States are conducted under different rules and termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. U.S. collegiate women's wrestling is conducted under freestyle rules.
Bulgaria competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy. 98 competitors, 89 men and 9 women, took part in 66 events in 12 sports.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, 20 wrestling events were contested, for all men only. There were 10 weight classes in each of the freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling disciplines.
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.
At the 1920 Summer Olympics, ten wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were five weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and five classes in Catch as Catch Can, predecessor to freestyle wrestling. The competitions were held from Monday, August 16 to Friday, August 20, 1920 (Greco-Roman) and from Wednesday, August 25 to Friday, August 27, 1920 (freestyle).
At the 1936 Summer Olympics, 14 wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were seven weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and seven classes in freestyle wrestling.
At the 1948 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling. The freestyle competitions were held from July 29 to July 31, 1948 and the Greco-Roman events were held from August 3 to August 6, 1948.
At the 1952 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling. The events were held at Messuhalli.
At the 1956 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling.
At the 1964 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling.
At the 1968 Summer Olympics, 16 wrestling events were contested, for all men. There were eight weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and eight classes in freestyle wrestling.
Hamit Kaplan was a Turkish World and Olympic champion sports wrestler in the Heavyweight class. He won the gold, silver and bronze medal in men's freestyle wrestling at three consecutive Olympic Games in 1956, 1960 and 1964.
Daniel Oliver "Dan" Brand was an American wrestler. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he was an All-America selection in 1958. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member in 2011.
Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 14 to 21 August at the Carioca Arena 2 in Barra da Tijuca. Wrestling had been split into two disciplines, freestyle and Greco-Roman, which were further divided into different weight categories. Men competed in both disciplines whereas women only participated in the freestyle events, with 18 gold medals awarded. Wrestling had been contested at every modern Summer Olympic Games, except Paris 1900.
The men's Greco-Roman featherweight competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome took place from 26 to 31 August at the Basilica of Maxentius. Nations were limited to one competitor.
The men's Greco-Roman welterweight competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome took place from 26 to 31 August at the Basilica of Maxentius. Nations were limited to one competitor.
The men's Greco-Roman middleweight competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome took place from 26 to 31 August at the Basilica of Maxentius. Nations were limited to one competitor.
Georgia 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.
