#ThrowBackThursday

#TBT: Olympic Champion Steveson Wins First World Title

Thursday, January 13, 2022 - 12:58 By United World Wrestling Press

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Gable STEVESON (USA) became an overnight sensation after winning a thrilling final and the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with wins over former world champions Geno PETRIASHVILI (GEO) and Taha AKGUL (TUR). The American was trailing Petriashvili in the 125kg final in Tokyo but scored two takedowns in the final 10 seconds to win the coveted Olympic title at the age of 21.

But a three-time age-group world champion has a habit of punching about his weight. In 2015, a 15-year-old Steveson made a stunning run at the Cadet World Championships in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and won the gold medal with a 9-0 victory over Khasanboy RAKHIMOV (UZB). He outscored his opponents 47-12.

Since then he won the 2016 cadet world title, 2017 junior world title, 2021 senior Pan-Am Championships gold and the Tokyo Olympics gold with just the 2018 Junior World Championships being a lackluster event for him. The defending champion there finished fifth as Rakhimov avenged his loss from 2015 with a pin.

Training Camp in Vietnam

Tuesday, July 19, 2022 - 07:43 By UWW Development

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The Vietnam Wrestling Federation in collaboration with a private company organized the “2022 Expanding Horizons World Camp” that took place in Hanoi, Vietnam from the 16th to 30th of June.

After an almost 2-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the camp was able to bring together 18 wrestlers (GR, FS, WW) from different countries such as; United States, Canada, Australia and the hosting nation, Vietnam. The camp combined several important areas from technical skills, nutritional knowledge, Olympic experience, social networking, cultural broadening, and aspirations and empowerment sessions to elevate the sport to new heights for the next generation of competitors.

Arsen Julfalakyan, PhD, UWW Athletes Commission Chairman and Bureau Member, Olympic Silver Medallist, World and European Champion coached the athletes throughout the camp.  He shared his knowledge as an Olympian while leading various sessions to expand the knowledge of the participants.

Aside the training sessions, the participants enjoyed several off the mat activities such as; a boat ride on the Red River Delta along the city of Ninh Binh, a visit to the Blue Dragon Foundation Orphanage, a cruise on the Halong Bay and much more to create bonding moments and share the Vietnamese culture.  

The intense training culminated in an individual/dual competition held on June 26-27, in which all young athletes were able to showcase their newly acquired knowledge and techniques on the mat.

The camp was a great success and showcased the value of diversifying collaboration, linking with a private sector is a great asset for the development of wrestling for the neediest national federations.

Camp VIE 2022