World Championships

Senior Athletes to Participate in Historic Training Camp Prior to World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (September 3) -- United World Wrestling has announced it will host its largest-ever training camp prior to the 2019 Senior World Championships in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. 

The training camp will take place September 4-18 at the Olympic Cycling Centre in Saryarka. 

Over 150 participants from 35 countries have registered for the camp, which is being organized by UWW Development Department in collaboration with the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation.

 

“With the athletes at the heart of the our technical assistance and development programmes, the UWW Development Team has worked hard to ensure all the athletes enjoy a proper acclimation camp prior to the World Championship” said President Nenad LALOVIC. “Arriving early in a country to train for the world championships is key to success and it’s even more important because these world championships qualify nations for next year’s Olympic Games.”

The United States, Cuba, Korea and several other nations are sending wrestlers to the training camp. Some notable training camp participants include Olympic champion Hyeonwoo KIM (KOR), two-time world champion RYU Hansu (KOR), world No.2 Seunghak KIM (KOR), world silver medalist Adam COON (USA), world No.3 Minseok KIM (KOR) and world No. 4 Luisa VALVERDE MELENDRES (ECU).

 

The 2019 Senior Wrestling World Championships will begin Saturday, September 14 with Greco-Roman action. The event will feature 1000 wrestlers from 101 nations across 9 days of competition in Greco-Roman, women’s wrestling, and freestyle

#development

Afghanistan Coaches Build Skills at UWW Level 1 Coaching Course

By United World Wrestling Press

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (June 30) -- Eleven coaches from Afghanistan were among 21 participants who completed a United World Wrestling Level 1 Coaching Course in Almaty, strengthening the country's coaching capacity while building closer ties with neighboring Kazakhstan.

Organized through a partnership between Olympic Solidarity, the Kazakhstan National Olympic Committee, the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee, the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation, and United World Wrestling, the course focused on developing internationally recognized coaching competencies while fostering collaboration between the two wrestling nations.

Apart from the 11 coaches from Afghanistan, coaches from Kazakhstan also joined for a comprehensive program. The curriculum covered coaching responsibilities, skill development using UWW's Key Factors teaching methodology, athlete-centered learning through discovery games, coaching self-reflection, risk management, and practical coaching assessment.

Afghanistan

UWW Educator and former world champion Mohammed ABDELFATTAH praised the participants for their commitment throughout the program.

"I was very impressed with the overall level of the participants," Abdelfattah said. "The coaches were highly motivated, actively participated in every session, and continuously asked thoughtful questions throughout the course."

Abdelfattah was particularly encouraged by the technical level demonstrated by the Afghan coaches.

"The Afghan coaches demonstrated a strong technical understanding of wrestling." he said. "After speaking with several participants, I learned that traditional wrestling is extremely popular in Afghanistan and shares many technical similarities with Olympic wrestling. This provides coaches with an excellent technical foundation for further development."

The practical sessions proved to be a particular highlight, with coaches working through technical demonstrations, problem-solving exercises, and athlete-centered coaching activities designed to strengthen both technical instruction and coaching methodology.

The Afghanistan Wrestling Federation views the course as an important step in its long-term development strategy. Dr. Yonus POPALZY, an Afghan NOC and Olympic Council of Asia member, was instrumental in the development, organization, and success of the course.

Participants highlighted the practical nature of the course and the opportunity to exchange ideas with coaches from different backgrounds.

"The course exceeded our expectations. The practical sessions and interactive teaching methods gave us new ideas that we can immediately apply in our daily coaching."