COVID-19

KYODO News: Japanese wrestler using lockdown to lock in mental fortitude

Friday, April 17, 2020 - 13:17 By United World Wrestling Press

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Wrestlers around the world are stuck in their homes hoping to do their part to flatten the curve. In an article today in the Kyodo News, defending Olympic champion Risako Kawai says she is taking this break from the mats to train her mind. 

"I can't do, but I can watch," she said, explaining how she has been spending time watching videos of her opponents, researching techniques and mentally rehearsing match scenarios.

The 25-year-old, who competes in the 57-kilogram weight class, says she has never spent so much time away from the sport.

Kawai has not been able to spar with her training partner since Shigakkan University, her alma mater and training base in the central Japan city of Obu, Aichi Prefecture, suspended all club activities in late March.

"All I do is take in one day at a time," she says.

Four years ago, Kawai wrestled the 63-kg event to avoid having to go up against 10-time world champion and four-time Olympic women's wrestling champion Kaori Icho at 58 kg, and claimed the gold medal in her Olympic debut in Rio.

But for Tokyo 2020, Kawai made the bold move of stepping down a weight division and coming face-to-face with Icho in order to leave the pathway open for her sister to make it to the Olympics with her.

Read more on the Kyodo News site ... here

#WrestleParis, #UnitedWorldWrestling

IOC EB, Lalovic visited Sorbonne before Paris Olympics

Sunday, July 28, 2024 - 09:36 By United World Wrestling Press

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Top Photo (from left to right): Nicole HOEVERTSZ, Nenad LALOVIC, John COATES, Emma TERHO, IOC President Thomas BACH, Kristin KLOSTER, Gerardo WERTHEIN, Ser MIANG NG, Kirsty COVERNTRY

PARIS (July 27) -- United World Wrestling and International Olympic Committee Executive Board member Nenad LALOVIC visited Sorbonne in Paris last week. IOC President Thomas BACH along with the IOC EB visited Sorbonne, the place where the IOC EB was first founded.

Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, and the EB met in Sorbonne 130 years ago to found the IOC in Paris.

Before the 2024 Paris Olympics which began July 26, the current IOC EB revisited the same room where it all began.

Lalovic was first elected as an IOC member in 2015 for an eight-year term. He was re-elected unanimously at the 141st IOC session in Mumbai in 2023 for a new eight-year term.

As an IOC EB member, Lalovic was first elected in 2018 and then re-elected in 2022 in Beijing for a four-year term. He also serves on the WADA Executive Committee and the ASOIF Council.