Obituary

Olympic champion Macha passes away

Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - 09:40 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 31) -- Olympic champion and United World Wrestling Hall of Fame member Vitezslav MACHA (CZE) passed away on May 29 aged 75.

Macha, born in 1948, was the only Olympic champion from the country as he won the gold medal in Greco-Roman 74kg weight class at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. He had defeated Petros GALAKTOPOULOS (GRE) in the final bout. At the next Olympics in 1976, Macha won a silver medal at the Montreal Games to become a two-time Olympic medalist.

In World Championships, Macha stood on the top of the podium twice -- 1974 in Poland and 1977 in Sweden. His European Championships record includes a gold medal at the 1977 edition and four other medals -- two silver and two bronze.

Macha last competed at the 1980 Olympic Games, finishing sixth, before moving into coaching and even holding the post of President of the Czech Wrestling Federation.

UWW expresses its deepest condolences to the Macha family.

#UWWAcademy

UWW Academy launches new course on Takedown and Control

Thursday, December 18, 2025 - 11:35 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 18) -- United World Wrestling has launched a new course for Takedown and Control that will replace the existing one. The course demonstrates various takedowns and controls that occur in wrestling.

The course will follow a similar format to the other rules courses under Programs for Referees. This course covers the specifics of what determines a takedown and control. There are video examples of several situations along with explanations for how each was scored. The participants will also have an opportunity to practice 10 situations before taking a quiz over the course.

To access the course, follow the link -- UWW Academy New Course on Takedown and Control.

Takedown

About UWW Academy

The UWW Academy can found at academy.uww.org. The Academy is an online learning portal designed to provide information, tools and resources to support and develop wrestling. To access all the content including the Takedown and Control course, please go to the website and create your free account.