#development

Guenat presents UWW’s IT success at ASOIF workshop

Wednesday, May 24, 2023 - 08:51 By United World Wrestling Press

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LAUSANNE, Switzerland (May 24) -- ASOIF’s Sport Development and Education Workshop brought together 50 experts from 29 Summer and Winter Olympic International Federations (IFs) earlier this week. Organized by the ASOIF Sport Development and Education Group (ASDEG), the workshop focused on the common challenges and opportunities related to digitalization, the centralization of information, the evaluation of return on investment of IF development programs, new revenue sources for such programs, and sport initiations at multi-sports events.

The event was held on May 16 and 17 in Lausanne, Switzerland, led by the Chair of ASDEG Deqa NIAMKEY, Development Director at United World Wrestling.

Several representatives from ASOIF member federations presented case studies and shared best practices, while a number of external experts provided additional insights into the topics addressed.

UWW IT Director Sébastien GUENAT presented the Athena and Arena system during the workshop explaining how technology can help ease the work of any IF.

“It has been a pleasure to show what we have been working on at UWW for the past 10 years and discover that other IFs are on a similar path with not only questions but also interesting ideas on how to make technological tools more engaging for everybody," Guenat said.

Cynthia Amami and Margaux Kaltenbacher from Olympic Solidarity shared their experience on successful methods and tools to centralize information, whereas Jonas Gredenhag from PGA Tour explained how new ways of data collection have helped to enhance professional golf tournaments.

Katie Brazier from Birmingham City Council and Lilia Barieva from the International University Sports Federation (FISU) then presented successful examples of innovative sports initiations at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the World University Games respectively.

During another session, Elena Portas and Patrick Massey from Portas Consulting discussed social return on investment with the Forum participants.

Development and education are crucial to solid foundations and the healthy future of every sport. It's great to see that each year, our workshop attracts more IF colleagues and the discussions and outcomes are really constructive.

The workshop facilitates a united approach of a large number of IFs in the implementation of their sport development and education projects. This allows efficiencies in terms of human and financial resources, ensures a certain consistency across the sports and thereby maximizes the impact of the related IF activities overall.

#WrestleTirana

Kayaalp Breaks European Record with 13th Gold Medal

Tuesday, April 21, 2026 - 18:25 By Vinay Siwach

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TIRANA, Albania (April 21) -- "I truly believe I’ve set a record that will be very difficult to break."

Riza KAYAALP (TUR) knows the true effort it takes to win 12 gold medals at the European Championships. It took him 13 years. Now, on Tuesday, he won his record-breaking 13th gold medal at the European Championships in Tirana, moving past Aleksandr KARELIN.

With that, Kayaalp became the first wrestler in any style to win 13 golds in Europe. He defeated Darius VITEK (HUN), 7-1, in a dominant 130kg final.

Apart from Tuesday's gold, Kayaalp has won European titles in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2010.

"It’s an incredible feeling," Kayaalp said. "This was my 15th final, and in my 15th final, I achieved my 13th title. This title is especially valuable to me because achieving such long-term and consistent success -- especially in Europe, where there are very strong nations -- is not easy. I’m very proud to have broken such a big record."

Wrestling Vitek in the 130kg final, Kayaalp got the par terre position in the first period and brought the strong gut-wrench he has made his own to turn Vitek three times for six points. He went into the break leading 7-0. Vitek got the par terre position in the second period but he failed to move the mountain-of-man Kayaalp.

With chants of "Riza, Riza" reverberating at the Feti Borova Hall, Kayaalp defended his lead and despite a few instances of him slipping, Vitek could not inflict any sort of danger to score any points. After six minutes of the final and history created, Kayaalp celebrated the 13th gold medal and took his own time with the fans.

"The matches were not easy. I had tough matches," he said. "One of my matches ended 1–1. In the semifinal, I can say I was subjected to some disrespect from a strong opponent in a very intense bout. But compared to those, the final match was more meaningful for me.

"When it became 7-0, well, I’m an athlete who doesn’t like to concede points," he said. "I don’t like giving points away, so I managed to protect that score. I can say I went through the second period quite comfortably, and having a 7–0 lead helped."

The last time Kayaalp built a 7-0 lead was back in 2017, when he pinned Balint LAM (HUN) in the 130kg final after a 7-0 lead.

Kayaalp's gold is a testimony to his longevity having won his first European title in 2010, a year in which his opponent in the final, Vitek, was 10 years, five months and 12 days when Kayaalp achieved his first gold.

"When you look back, you realize you’ve made 15 finals," Kayaalp said after winning the 130kg gold medal in Tirana. "Back then, I was just thinking whether I could win one or two medals. But then, making the final every time at the European Championships, it’s like a child being born and growing up to 15 years old."

Photo

RESULTS

55kg
GOLD: Emin SEFERSHAEV (UWW) df. Vakhtang LOLUA (GEO), 2-1

BRONZE: Rashad MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Omer RECEP (TUR), 8-0
BRONZE: Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL) df. Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM), 3-1

63kg
GOLD: Sergey EMELIN (UWW) df. Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA), 9-0

BRONZE: Karen ASLANYAN (ARM) df. Mairbek SALIMOV (POL), 11-0
BRONZE: Kerem KAMAL (TUR) df. Pridon ABULADZE (GEO), 6-2

77kg
GOLD: Malkhas AMOYAN (ARM) df. Ramaz ZOIDZE (GEO), 1-1

BRONZE: Edvin BAFF (SWE) df. Alexandrin GUTU (MDA), 2-1
BRONZE: Robert FRITSCH (HUN) df. Antonio KAMENJASEVIC (CRO), 1-1

87kg
GOLD: Turpal BISULTANOV (DEN) df. Semen NOVIKOV (BUL), via fall (8-4)

BRONZE: Yaroslav FILCHAKOV (UKR) df. Ihar YARASHEVICH (UWW), 1-1
BRONZE: Islam ABBASOV (AZE) df. Dogan KAYA (TUR), 5-1

130kg
GOLD: Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Darius VITEK (HUN), 7-1

BRONZE: Pavel HLINCHUK (UWW) df. Marat KAMPAROV (UWW), 10-5
BRONZE: Mykhailo VYSHNYVETSKYI (UKR) df. Beka KANDELAKI (AZE), 3-1