Obituary

Olympic champion Mustafa Dagistanli passes away

Wednesday, September 21, 2022 - 15:11 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (September 20) -- Two-time Olympic champion and member of the United Wrestling Hall of Fame Mustafa DAGESTANLI (TUR) passed away on Monday. He was 91 years old.

Born in 1931 in Soguroinar village of Carsamba, Turkey, Dagistanli won gold medals at the 1956 and 1960 Olympic Games. He was also a three-time world champion with gold medals in 1954, 1957 and 1959.

In the 1956 Melbourne Games, Dagistanli won gold in the 56kg weight class. Four years later in Rome, he jumped up to 62kg and finished on the top of the podium.

Dagistanli made his debut for Turkey in 1953 but quickly became one of the most dominant wrestlers in the world and won the first world title in Tokyo in 1954.
 
In his 320 recorded bouts in Turkey, Dagistanli won 319 out of 320 bouts and 70 out of 73 at the international level. The achievement puts him among the best wrestlers walking on the planet during his active days.

After his retirement, he worked as a coach and was part of the Turkish Wrestling Federation. He also served in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey as the Samsun Deputy of the Justice Party for two terms between 1973-1980 and received the State Distinguished Service Medal.

#development

Lithuanian Wrestling Federation conducts referee training before the Druskininkai Cup

Monday, June 26, 2023 - 13:31 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

DRUSKININKAI, Lithuania (June 26) --- The Lithuanian Wrestling Federation conducted a Referee Training Course from June 15-18 in conjunction with the Druskininkai Cup. The course had 13 participants and was led by Karol LEBOWSKI (POL), UWW Referee Educator.

The first two days of the course were theoretical and focused on discussing the rules of wrestling and interpreting the evaluation of technical actions by analyzing Lithuanian wrestlers during championship competitions. The final two days of the course were the practical sessions. The referees had a chance to work the competition and directly apply their skills. They focused on working as a mat chairman and with the referee team. During those sessions, they were provided feedback and improvement by Mr. Lebkowski. “The course was very popular among the participants. During the course, they asked many questions, to which we searched for answers together by analyzing the regulations,” said Mr. Lebkowski.

The participants in the course also share their appreciation of the course. Many stated that they liked the practical part carried out on the mat the most. They had never before met with a practical discussion of the referee's movement on the mat and the cooperation between the referees. They were very satisfied with the training conducted.