#BudaWrestle2018

Secretary General Michel Dusson Headlines Wrestling’s 2018 Hall of Fame Class

Saturday, October 20, 2018 - 15:32 By Tim Foley

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BUDAPEST (October 20) – United World Wrestling Secretary General Michel DUSSON (FRA) has been inducted into the organization’s 2018 Hall of Fame Class. Dusson, along with two dozen other officials, athletes, and referees received their recognition Friday night at the Budapest Marriott on the eve of the 2018 Wrestling World Championships.

Dusson, whose career in wrestling has spanned sixty years (1958-2018), is a stalwart of the organization having served several presidents while as Secretary General and traveled the world to work on behalf of the sport.

“There are few words that can express the wrestling community’s gratitude to Michel,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad LALOVIC. “He has been a source of strength in the organization and has been a leader on our sport for more than half a century. The Hall of Fame award is in recognition of his unique contributions.”

Dusson has been a Bureau member since 1980 and Secretary General since 1982.  Prior to becoming Secretary General, he was an international referee from 1958 to 1980, officiating the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Dusson previously served as the president of the French Wrestling Federation and later as a CAS Arbitrator (1984-1992).  

“Mr. Dusson has contributed so much to the sport it’s impossible to choose one thing, but he was responsible for initiating the recognition of women wrestling by the IF, which is a very fine legacy,” said bureau member and Hall of Fame Commission chairman Stan DZIEDZIC.

The night included inductees in several categories with careers spanning back to the 1940’s and with numerous Olympic and world championships to their names.

A full ist of entries can be found below, with photos available, here.

 

LEADER

Michel DUSSON (FRA) – Secretary General, United World Wrestling (1982-); Referee, (1958-1980)
Rolle Fernandez GUSTAVO (CUB) – National Team Coach, National Federation President, Bureau Member

REFEREE

Karri TOIVOLA (FIN) – Five Olympic Games, Every world championship 1990-2004; President United World Wrestling Referee Commission ’88-’14; Golden Whistle ‘95

COACH

Bayram SIT (TUR) Freestyle wrestler and coach for Turkish national team
Gannady SAPUNOV (RUS) Greco-Roman head coach from 1979-1990

ORDER OF MERIT

The Order of Merit is a new Hall of Fame category meant to honor those whose extraordinary service advanced the sport of wrestling. The first recipient was Dr. Harold TUNNEMAN (GER) who received the award at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Bernard J FELDMAN, M.D. (USA) Longtime doctor for United World Wrestling at numerous world championships and Olympic Games.

LEGEND

Sagalov ABDULBEKOV (RUS) -- First Olympic champion from the Russian Republic of Dagestan, one of the most prolific wrestling regions in the world. 2x world champion ‘71, ‘73 and ‘69 bronze medalist

WOMEN’S WRESTLING

Ayaka SHODA (JPN) -- 4x world champion
Stanka Zlateva HRISTOVA (BUL) -- 5x world champion 2x Olympic silver medalist
Silvia VAN GUCHT (FRA) -- 3x world champion

GRECO-ROMAN

Lajos KERESTZES (HUN) – Olympic champion, Olympic silver (posthumous)
Kazimierz LIPIEN (POL) Olympic champion1972; 2x world champion ‘73-‘74, 4x silver
Vitelav MACHA (CZE) Olympic champion 1972, Olympic silver ’76 2x World champion 74,77
Sergey MARTINOV (RUS) -- Four-time world champion, Olympic silver ‘92
Gustav FREIJ (SWE) – Olympic gold ’48, silver 1052, bronze ’60; world champion ’53, silver ’50 and bronze ’55 (posthumous)

 

Kenny Monday (USA) is a 1988 Olympic gold medalist and 1992 silver medalist (Photo: Gabor Martin)

FREESTYLE

Istvan KOVACS (HUN) – World champion 79, World bronze 77, Olympic bronze 80
Prodgan GARDZHEV (BUL) – Olympic Gold ‘64, bronze ’68; World Champion ‘63 ‘66, bronze 65
Roman DIMITRIEV (RUS) – Olympic gold ’72, silver ’76; World champion ‘763, Silver ’69, bronze ’70 & ’74 (posthumous)
Kenneth MONDAY (USA) – Gold ’88, Silver ’92; World champion ’89, ‘91
Shigeo NAKATA (JPN) – Olympic champion ’68, World champion ‘67
Monsoor MEHDIZADEH (IRI) – 3x world champion ’61,’62, ’65; Bronze ‘63

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Paris Olympics: Wrestling breaks new barriers, expands reach across continents

Thursday, August 22, 2024 - 14:05 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (August 22): More than half a million new fans in the digital community. An astounding 100 million engagements. And a remarkable 134 percent increase in social media impressions compared to Tokyo 2020.

At the Paris Olympics, it was a gold medal for wrestling.

UWW

On the mat, legends were born, records were set, and some moments would be remembered for ages. Off it, the sport broke new barriers, expanded its reach and engaged with a diverse audience as the United World Wrestling digital channels witnessed unprecedented growth during the Games.

The UWW’s online platforms recorded an impressive 11.2 percent increase in followers, adding over 508,000 new fans to its digital community. Compared to the growth in followers during the Tokyo Olympics, this figure represents a staggering 125 percent increase.

A large part of this surge was seen on Instagram, where the UWW gained 217,000 new followers. Facebook was a close second, adding 183,000 new followers while TikTok, the platform known for its short, engaging content, added 61,400 new followers. The growth across all platforms highlights the effectiveness of the UWW’s content strategy.

The inspiring clip of Greco-Roman star Mohammadhadi SARAVI (IRI), who won Iran’s first gold medal in the Paris Olympics drove the maximum engagement on Instagram. Saravi, who won a bronze medal in Tokyo, beat Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) 4-1 in the 97kg final.

Another Iranian, Rahman AMOUZAD, one of the most feared wrestlers in the 65 kg freestyle, went viral with a video in which he proclaimed himself the ‘king’. This post had the second-highest engagement while a slick clip of Frank CHAMIZO (ITA) was the third-most viewed, captivating the viewers and leading engagements as well as interactions.

These videos – and many others shared across UWW’s social media channels – resonated strongly with audiences, garnering record-breaking views. Overall, there were 330 million impressions, a remarkable rise of 134 percent compared to the Tokyo Olympics.

Moreover, the content also achieved 100 million engagements, and a 71 percent increase in reach compared to the previous Olympic Games. This surge in interaction underscores the high level of interest and excitement generated by UWW’s coverage of the Olympic wrestling events.

The video content drove UWW’s social media success. Across all platforms, UWW’s video content garnered over 156 million views, an extraordinary 205 percent increase compared to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

YouTube, in particular, saw significant traction with over 21 million views. This success was fueled by a mix of short and long-form videos apart from live streaming, with shorts emerging as the most popular content format.

With more than one million views, the YouTube video of AMAN (IND) getting his revenge over Zelimkhan ABAKAROV (ALB) with a win in the preliminary round. Aman, who won a bronze medal, had lost to Abakarov at the 2023 World Championships.

Chamizo’s video, Don't play with fire #WrestleParis, which went viral on Instagram was also a huge hit on YouTube with hundreds of thousands of viewers, making it the second-most watched video on the platform.

The Day Three highlights show which revisited one of the biggest upsets of the competition – Vinesh PHOGAT (IND) defeating Yui SUSAKI (JPN) in the women’s 50 kg first round – got the third-highest views on YouTube.

The UWW’s vibrant social media strategy was complemented by a robust email marketing campaign, which ran daily throughout the Olympic Games. The ongoing CRM campaigns helped boost engagement across Web, App and UWW+.