Tokyo 2020

Ten Years Later Guenat Still Bringing Energy, New Tech to the Mat 

Thursday, April 2, 2020 - 16:16 By Tim Foley

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 2) – Everything today feels obvious: a livestream to watch, Arena to follow results, and Athena to manage tournament entries. But ten years ago the sport of wrestling had none of these fan-friendly organizational efforts in place.

“We were in a very different time when I arrived in Corsier,” said Sébastien Guenat who arrived in 2010 as a webmaster to what was then FILA. “We were building a new website for each tournament using Joomla.”

While much has changed in recent years, Guenat has remained a constant in Corsier and at events around the world. This week marks his ten year work anniversary and when looking back at what’s changed at the organizational level Guenat has had his hands in many of the sport’s most important innovations, but thinks the driving force has always been one thing.

“Fairness has always been our mission. We wanted to make sure that everything we do makes it easier for the athletes to compete, the national federations to participate, and for fans to follow along,” said Guenat. “I don’t think we are done, but we have made good progress.”
 

After FILA adopted new leadership in 2013 and changed to United World Wrestling in 2015 Guenat’s first effort was to create a draw system that was totally randomized. “We use to grab balls out of a bag, which is not the right way to do things,” said Guenat.

To make the process fair Guenat created a randomizer which generated numbers between 1-99 and assigned them to the various entrants. Coaches were allowed to press the button to create the number. This year that system was replaced by blockchain technology which provides absolute random assignment and a method by which fans, coaches, and officials could check the blockchain.

“I’m very happy with the progress for our draws,” said Guenat. "Manu (Veyrat) has been a very important part of all our developments, along with and Csaba (Virag) and Youssef (Bouaziz)."

Following the 2016 Rio Games the UWW bureau tasked Guenat to create a system to randomly assign referees using a system of inputs to ensure a fair outcome. The task was difficult, but in 2020 Guenat and Veyrat believe it's been optimized to the benefit of wrestlers, fans, and even referees.

While fairness has always been the aim, the building blocks of the organization also needed improvement. The new website was launched in 2015, which also hosted Arena a results and tournament management software that helped organize information. It was also given out to free to all interested national federations.

When Arena first launched there was a delay in adoption by federations. At one tournament the organizers had no cables with which to connect the computers to the internet. After some jostling the organizers returned the next day with hundreds of feet – everything Guenat and the team needed.

“They robbed a local school,’ Guenat said flatly. “We got great internet but the school probably didn’t have it again for several months.”

Guenat is quick to point out that the IT team's success at implementing Arena, livestreaming and Athena rests on the hard work of a large international team of up to 16 IT externals that travel to every event and help keep the standards established by headquarters.

"They do the most work," said Guenat. Wrestling is very fortunate to have that staff willing to travel and work so hard for the sport."

Arena has been a gift for fans and organizers, but the development of Athena might prove to be Guenat and the IT teams biggest accomplishment to date. The software logs each wrestler, national federation member, and staff member for each tournament and national federation in the world. Federations can purchase licenses, log their flight arrivals, and pay their entry fees right on Athena.

“For a long time you never knew who would show up to a tournament,” said Guenat. “The organizers could have 100 entries, or 1000. Nobody knew. It’s insane to think about!”

To make these improvements has meant that Guenat has needed to travel around the world dozens of times. Using an app called Wipolo, Guenat knows his exact stats: 63 countries, 116 trips, and an incredible 1,468,876 km traveled in the past ten years. And that’s meant a lot fo time away from home, but also some positive experiences on the road.

“I love working in Japan. Everything works the first time and the food is great,” said Guenat. "Nightlife is also good if you have a free moment."

Though he didn’t mention his less-than-favorite trips, Guenat looks more fondly on locations that allow him to finish his work, enjoy good food, and have great local staff. ‘We spend a lot of time on the road. It’s nice to have things be easier sometime.”

Guenat isn’t stopping anytime soon. In addition to advising the IOC’s boxing commission and working within international sports IT-based commissions, he’s also working on getting everything into the cloud. “We can already do more than ever before with our work in the cloud, With COVID-19 it’s been an advantage to have so much available for our international staff,” said Guenat. 

Next up is optimizing 4D Replay (up to 80 cameras around a mat) and maybe further down the road adding some wearable technologies to monitor heart rate of athletes and get better information. IN the immediate future is possibly the biggest project launch of the IT director’s career – a complete, interactive, up-to-date database complete with all videos, photos, and stats of every wrestler in the world.

“We are almost finished,” said Guenat. “This project feels like it’s taken my whole ten years, but I know when it is done we will ask ‘How did we live without this?’”

Five-Time Olympic Champ Lopez Joins China as Greco Coach

Monday, March 30, 2026 - 13:12 By United World Wrestling Press

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Mijain LOPEZ, coach Ruis DIAZ, and all members of the Chinese Greco-Roman wrestling team

By Yang Boyi and Wang Chujie for Xinhua News

BEIJING, China (March 30) -- 18 years ago, Mijain LOPEZ (CUB) claimed his first Olympic gold medal in Beijing, launching an unprecedented reign of five consecutive Olympic titles, a feat unmatched in Olympic wrestling history.

Now the 42-year-old Cuban legend has returned to the Chinese capital, not as a competitor, but as a specially recruited foreign coach for China's national Greco-Roman team.

He arrived alongside Raul DIAZ, the lifelong mentor who guided him through the most dominant stretch of his historic career. Both now serve as United World Wrestling (UWW) Development Ambassadors, making this far more than a routine visit.

It is a homecoming to the city where Lopez's legend was forged, and a full-circle moment for two men whose fates have intertwined with Beijing and each other for nearly two decades.

Ruis DIAZRaul DIAZ (CUB) with the Chinese Greco-Roman national team. (Photo: Xinhua News)

Although Diaz and Lopez first bonded in 1999, their fates did not officially intertwine until after Lopez claimed his maiden Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with Diaz then serving as a coach for the Portuguese national team.

In 2010, Diaz returned as Lopez's full-time head coach, guiding him through the next 14 years and four more consecutive Olympic gold medals from London 2012 to Paris 2024, cementing his status as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler of all time.

The 2024 Paris Olympics marked the final chapter of Lopez's storied career. After clinching his historic fifth title, he knelt to kiss the mat and left his shoes on the canvas - the universal ritual of retirement in wrestling.

"That moment was full of mixed emotions. I was overjoyed with the result, but also overwhelmed with sadness, because I had decided to close the book on my career," Lopez told Xinhua through an interpreter.

"I kissed the wrestling mat to express my gratitude for all the achievements in my wrestling career. This mat and my coach made me the champion I am today. I am thankful for all those days and nights we spent training together."

When asked whether Lopez would have won four more Olympic golds and completed the five-peat without his coaching, Diaz is quick to deflect the credit to his pupil's innate talent and unshakable character.

"Lopez is an exceptional athlete, one of a kind. What makes him great is not just his physical strength, but his mental fortitude," said Diaz. "He competes not for money or fame, but for his love for the Cuban people, wrestling and his family."

"He is family to me," Lopez said of his mentor. "A coach is more than an instructor; he is a guide who walks with you through every critical moment. I hope every athlete can experience this kind of profound connection."

Diaz recalled the words Lopez's father said to him on his deathbed: "Please, be a father to Lopez from now on." Over years of close companionship, the pair have become inseparable.

"I can no longer imagine my life without him," Diaz said.

Mijain LOPEZ (CUB)Reporter interviewing Mijain LOPEZ (center) and Shen SHIYAN (right), Spanish interpreter for the Chinese Greco-Roman team. (Photo: Xinhua News)

Lifetime to Understand China

For both men, China has never been a distant country. For Lopez, Beijing will always be the starting point of his legend. "I have an immense affection for China. It was here that I won my first Olympic gold, the medal that broke the ice and opened a whole new chapter of my career," he said.

Diaz's connection to China stretches back to childhood, with Chinese classmates and family friends. He still remembers the Chinese couple in Havana's Chinatown who always kept a meal warm for him.

"Those simple acts of kindness made me feel a deep closeness to Chinese people from the very beginning," Diaz recalled.

When Lopez stepped onto the mat in Beijing in 2008, Diaz watched with special pride - not just for his former pupil, but for a country he had long felt a bond with.

"The more you learn about China, the more you realize it may take a whole lifetime to truly understand this country," Diaz observed. "Chinese people are kind, honest and down-to-earth. Some countries refuse to see the real China out of prejudice, but there is no better way to know this country than to come here, to see it with your own eyes."

Passing the Torch

Diaz and Lopez have come to Beijing with a clear mission: to pass on decades of experience and training philosophy to help nurture China's next generation of wrestlers.

Zheng PAN (CHN), head coach of China's Greco-Roman team, noted that Diaz prioritizes efficiency in training. "We have more sessions now, but each is shorter. Raul always emphasizes that athletes must give their absolute all in every minute."

Diaz is full of praise for China's young wrestlers, citing their strength, speed, discipline, intelligence and work ethic. "The most important thing is to train with purpose and focus. Chinese wrestlers have every ability to compete with the top athletes in the world."

Lopez echoed his coach's optimism. "These young wrestlers have a bright future. We are here to give them that extra push, to help them stand firm on the world stage."

18 years ago, Lopez arrived in Beijing as a rising talent and left as an Olympic champion. Now they have returned together as legends, ready to pass on the torch and write a new chapter in the decades-long friendship between Cuban and Chinese wrestling.

In November 2025, Diaz received the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coaches Lifetime Achievement Award. Standing beside him to share the honor was his star pupil. "That moment felt like a dream," Diaz said. "I want to give all my love for wrestling, my knowledge, and everything I have to this sport."