Tokyo 2020

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

By Tim Foley

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?’”

#WrestleTirana

World Championships Non-Olympic Weights 2024 Entries

By United World Wrestling Press

TIRANA, Albania (October 2) -- The World Championships in Non-Olympic Weight Classes is making a return after eight years and will be held in Tirana, Albania from October 28 to 31.

The wrestlers who participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics cannot compete at this World Championships. Close to 300 wrestlers will be in Tirana competing in 12 weight classes in Freestyle, Women's Wrestling and Greco-Roman.

Freestyle competition will be in 61kg, 70kg 79kg and 92kg. Women's Wrestling will be in 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg and Greco-Roman will compete in 55kg, 63kg, 72kg and 82kg.

The World Championships will be live on uww.org and the UWW App.

Note: The entries are subject to change as a few countries are yet to hold their selections

Freestyle

61kg
Aryan TSIUTRYN (AIN)
Zavur UGUEV (AIN)
Endrio AVDYLI (ALB)
Mezhlum MEZHLUMYAN (ARM)
Nuraddin NOVRUZOV (AZE)
Christopher MERLO (CAN)
Weiyu LI (CHN)
Rabby KILANDI (COD)
Peter HAMMER CUDE (CRC)
Joshua KRAMER (ECU)
Arman ELOYAN (FRA)
Giorgi GONIASHVILI (GEO)
Niklas STECHELE (GER)
Gamzatgadzsi HALIDOV (HUN)
Akash DAHIYA (IND)
Reza Hossein MOMENIJOUJADEH (IRI)
Masanosuke ONO (JPN)
Assyl AITAKYN (KAZ)
Taiyrbek ZHUMASHBEK UULU (KGZ)
Leomid COLESNIC (MDA)
Tsogbadrakh TSEVEENSUREN (MGL)
Besir ALILI (MKD)
Joseph SILVA (PUR)
Razvan KOVACS (ROU)
Nils LEUTERT (SUI)
Tolga OZBEK (TUR)
Andrii DZHELEP (UKR)
Vitali ARUJAU (USA)
Ibrahim GUZAN (YEM)

70kg
Niurgun SKRIABIN (AIN)
Abasgadzhi MAGOMEDOV (AIN)
Eriglent PRIZRENI (ALB)
Arman ANDREASYAN (ARM)
Ali RAHIMZADE (AZE)
Ramazan RAMAZANOV (BUL)
Peiman BIABANI (CAN)
Shijian ZHOU (CHN)
Norvil BUKASA (COD)
Anthony WESLEY (CPV)
Akaki KEMERTELIDZE (GEO)
ABHIMANYOU (IND)
Amirmohammad YAZDANI (IRI)
Mitchell FINESILVER (ISR)
Yoshinosuke AOYAGI (JPN)
Nurkozha KAIPANOV (KAZ)
Alibek OSMONOV (KGZ)
Nicolai GRAHMEZ (MDA)
Temuulen ENKHTUYA (MGL)
Fati VEJSELI (MKD)
Patryk OLENCZYN (POL)
Stefan COMAN (ROU)
Abdulmazhid KUDIEV (TJK)
Umut ERDOGAN (TUR)
Vasyl SHUPTAR (UKR)
James GREEN (USA)

79kg
Inalbek SHERIEV (AIN)
Orges LILA (ALB)
Chems FETAIRIA (ALG)
Arman AVAGYAN (ARM)
Orkhan ABASOV (AZE)
Khidir SAIPUDINOV (BRN)
Mihail GEORGIEV (BUL)
Adam THOMSON (CAN)
Nan CAO (CHN)
Andy MUKENDI (COD)
Zelimkhan KHADJIEV (FRA)
Avtandil KENTCHADZE (GEO)
Lucas KAHNT (GER)
Murad KURAMAGOMEDOV (HUN)
Parvinder SINGH (IND)
Mohammad NOKHODI (IRI)
RAFFAELE MATRULLO (ITA)
Kota TAKAHASHI (JPN)
Daulet YERGESH (KAZ)
Alans AMIROVS (LAT)
Traian CAPATINA (MDA)
Suldkhuu OLONBAYAR (MGL)
Ahmad MAGOMEDOV (MKD)
Kamil RYBICKI (POL)
Shane JONES (PUR)
Zurab KAPRAEV (ROU)
Akhsarbek GULAEV (SVK)
Magomet EVLOEV (TJK)
Ahmet YAGAN (TUR)
Valentyn BABII (UKR)
Jordan BURROUGHS (USA)
Mirzo KHAYITOV (UZB)

92kg
Yaraslau IADKOUSKI (AIN)
Abdulrashid SADULAEV (AIN)
Marjus MALKO (ALB)
Knyaz IBOYAN (ARM)
Aslan ABAKAROV (AZE)
Akhmed MAGAMAEV (BUL)
Andrew JOHNSON (CAN)
Zushen LIN (CHN)
Miriani MAISURADZE (GEO)
Lars SCHAEFLE (GER)
Balazs JUHASZ (HUN)
VINAY (IND)
Kamran GHASEMPOUR (IRI)
Matthew FINESILVER (ISR)
Benjamin HONIS (ITA)
Takashi ISHIGURO (JPN)
Nurdaulet BEKENOV (KAZ)
Egzon SHALA (KOS)
Ivars SAMUSONOKS (LAT)
Domantas PAULIUSCENKO (LTU)
Ivan ICHIZLI (MDA)
Gankhuyag GANBAATAR (MGL)
Dejan MITROV (MKD)
Filip ROGUT (POL)
Samuel SCHERRER (SUI)
Batyrbek TSAKULOV (SVK)
Bekir Talip OVEC (TUR)
Illia ARCHAIA (UKR)
David TAYLOR (USA)

Risako KINJO (JPN)Former Olympic and world champion Risako KINJO (JPN) will be eyeing another world title, first since 2019. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kadir Caliskan)

Women's Wrestling

55kg
Iryna KURACHKINA (AIN)
Olga KHOROSHAVTSEVA (AIN)
Sezen BELBEROVA (BUL)
Karla GODINEZ (CAN)
Jin ZHANG (CHN)
Maria BAEZ (ESP)
Tatiana DEBIEN (FRA)
Nina HEMMER (GER)
Ramona GALAMBOS (HUN)
TAMANNA (IND)
Moe KIYOOKA (JPN)
Zulfiya YAKHYAROVA (KAZ)
Iulia LEORDA (MDA)
Otgontuya CHINBOLD (MGL)
Jowita WRZESIEN (POL)
Elvira KAMALOGLU (TUR)
Oleksandra KHOMENETS (UKR)
Areana VILLAESCUSA (USA)

59kg
Svetlana LIPATOVA (AIN)
Alyona KOLESNIK (AZE)
Evelina NIKOLOVA (BUL)
Laurence BEAUREGARD (CAN)
Yongxin FENG (CHN)
Elena BRUGGER (GER)
Erika BOGNAR (HUN)
Pushpa YADAV (IND)
Risako KINJO (JPN)
Diana KAYUMOVA (KAZ)
Mariana CHERDIVARA (MDA)
Tserenchimed SUKHEE (MGL)
Esther KOLAWOLE (NGR)
Othelie HOEIE (NOR)
Magdalena GLODEK (POL)
Kateryna ZHYDACHEVSKA (ROU)
Evelina HULTHEN (SWE)
Sevim AKBAS (TUR)
Solomiia VYNNYK (UKR)
Jacarra WINCHESTER (USA)

65kg
Veranika IVANOVA (AIN)
Valeriia DONDUPOVA (AIN)
Elis MANOLOVA (AZE)
Olivia DI BACCO (CAN)
Jia LONG (CHN)
Kendra DACHER (FRA)
ANTIM (IND)
Aurora CAMPAGNA (ITA)
Eldarah BROWN (TON)
Miwa MORIKAWA (JPN)
Irina KAZYULINA (KAZ)
Elma ZEIDLERE (LAT)
Enkhjin TUVSHINJARGAL (MGL)
Natalia Gizela KUBATY (POL)
Kateryna ZELENYKH (ROU)
Duygu GEN (TUR)
Iryna BONDAR (UKR)
Macey KILTY (USA)

72kg
Anastasiya ZIMIANKOVA (AIN)
Vusala PARFIANOVICH (AIN)
Aleah Noelle NICKEL (CAN)
Qian JIANG (CHN)
Rosie TABORA (COD)
Adela HANZLICKOVA (CZE)
Pauline LECARPENTIER (FRA)
Noémi SZABADOS (HUN)
HARSHITA (IND)
Ami ISHII (JPN)
Zhamila BAKBERGENOVA (KAZ)
Emilia CRECIUN (MDA)
Bolortungalag ZORIGT (MGL)
Alexandra ANGHEL (ROU)
Tindra SJOEBERG (SWE)
Nazar BATIR (TUR)
Anastasiya ALPYEYEVA (UKR)
Kylie WELKER (USA)

Greco-Roman

55kg
Vitalii KABALOEV (AIN)
Bajram SINA (ALB)
Manvel KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE)
Stefan GRIGOROV (BUL)
Haifeng ZHANG (CHN)
Giorgi TOKHADZE (GEO)
Arjun HALAKURKI (IND)
Poya DAD MARZ (IRI)
Kagetora OKAMOTO (JPN)
Amangali BEKBOLATOV (KAZ)
Ulan MURATBEK UULU (KGZ)
Artiom DELEANU (MDA)
Denis MIHAI (ROU)
Servan CINAR (TUR)
Koriun SAHRADIAN (UKR)
Brady KOONTZ (USA)

63kg
Hleb MAKARANKA (AIN)
Sadyk LALAEV (AIN)
Jurgen UKU (ALB)
Hrachya POGHOSYAN (ARM)
Nihat MAMMADLI (AZE)
Abu AMAEV (BUL)
Haodong TAN (CHN)
Stefan CLEMENT (FRA)
Leri ABULADZE (GEO)
Umesh UMESH (IND)
Iman Hossein MOHAMMADI (IRI)
Ayata SUZUKI (JPN)
Galym KABDUNASSAROV (KAZ)
Dastan KADYROV (KGZ)
Munthir JANDU (KSA)
Aleksandrs JURKJANS (LAT)
Vitalie ERIOMENCO (MDA)
Michal TRACZ (POL)
Servet ANGI (TUR)
Oleksandr HRUSHYN (UKR)
Ildar HAFIZOV (USA)

72kg
Mikita MURASHKA (AIN)
Aslan VISAITOV (AIN)
Gjete PRENGA (ALB)
Ashot KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Ulvu GANIZADE (AZE)
Ivo ILIEV (BUL)
Ji LENG (CHN)
Reangan NDOMBASI (COD)
Dominik ETLINGER (CRO)
Mikko PELTOKANGAS (FIN)
Ibrahim GHANEM (FRA)
Otar ABULADZE (GEO)
Michael WIDMAYER (GER)
Amadeusz VITEK (HUN)
Ankit GULIA (IND)
Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI)
Kensuke SHIMIZU (JPN)
Ibragim MAGOMADOV (KAZ)
Iigilik SATYMKUL UULU (KGZ)
Ahmed BARAHMAH (KSA)
Mihai PETIC (MDA)
Haavard JOERGENSEN (NOR)
Mateusz BERNATEK (POL)
Sebastian NAD (SRB)
Ali ARSALAN (SRB)
Andreas VETSCH (SUI)
Per Albin OLOFSSON (SWE)
Selcuk CAN (TUR)
Ihor BYCHKOV (UKR)
Benjamin PEAK (USA)
David STEPANIAN (USA)
Abdullo ALIEV (UZB)

82kg
Stanislau SHAFARENKA (AIN)
Islam ALIEV (AIN)
Kevin KUPI (ALB)
Karen KHACHATRYAN (ARM)
Gurban GURBANOV (AZE)
Sosruko KODZOKOV (BRA)
Rosian DERMANSKI (BUL)
Pengcheng WANG (CHN)
Karlo KODRIC (CRO)
Michal ZELENKA (CZE)
Artem SHAPOVALOV (FIN)
Johnny BUR (FRA)
Gela BOLKVADZE (GEO)
Pascal EISELE (GER)
Erik SZILVASSY (HUN)
Rohit DAHIYA (IND)
Mohammadali GERAEI (IRI)
Matteo MAFFEZZOLI (ITA)
Taizo YOSHIDA (JPN)
Yevgeniy POLIVADOV (KAZ)
Azat SALIDINOV (KGZ)
Hassan BARNAWI (KSA)
Mihail BRADU (MDA)
Patryk BEDNARZ (POL)
Ramon BETSCHART (SUI)
Alperen BERBER (TUR)
Ruslan ABDIIEV (UKR)
Aliaksandr KIKINIOU (USA)
Jalgasbay BERDIMURATOV (UZB)