#Anti-Doping

UWW renews partnership with International Testing Agency (ITA)

Monday, March 6, 2023 - 20:25 By United World Wrestling Press

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United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body for the sport of Wrestling, has renewed and expanded its partnership with the International Testing Agency (ITA) with a complete delegation of all areas of its clean sport program to the independent expert anti-doping body.

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (March 6) --- The UWW has been collaborating with the ITA since January 2019 with the objective to offer its athletes independent and expert-led clean sport programs. Now the world governing body for wrestling has decided to renew this partnership and delegate further areas of its clean sport program to the independent organisation, resulting in an anti-doping program fully managed by the ITA.

Three further areas of UWW’s anti-doping program have been handed over to the ITA in the beginning of February: the administration of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) for wrestling athletes, the long-term storage of samples and education.

Applications for TUEs will be handled by the ITA’s International Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee (ITUEC), a network of some of the world’s best physicians and pharmacists with expertise in sports medicine, providing a confidential and respectful review of athletes’ medical information.

To increase the impact and deterrence factor of the UWW anti-doping program, the ITA has also devised a long-term strategy for samples collected from wrestling athletes. The retained samples may be analysed up to ten years after the collection date if new intelligence or information obtained from investigations provides specific evidence or if improved and further developed laboratory technology provides enhanced analysis. UWW samples will be stored in the ITA’s highly secured and ISO-certified Centralised Long-Term Storage Facility (CLTSF).

ITA

The ITA will also raise awareness against doping, support the UWW clean sport values, and contribute to doping prevention among all international amateur wrestling athletes with a dedicated series of webinars and by providing ongoing education support to UWW throughout the year.

“I wish to thank the UWW for their trust and ongoing commitment to offer their athletes a high-quality clean sport program run by the ITA,” said ITA Director General Benjamin Cohen.

“UWW have been one of the early adopters of an independently led anti-doping program and were among the first Olympic International Federations to collaborate with us. I am very pleased to see that over the past years our partnership has grown and that today the UWW is delegating all of its clean sport efforts to the ITA. We are very honoured by the trust placed in our organisation and will continue to do our best to protect their athletes and competitions in support of UWW’s values of unity, passion and integrity."

“The professional services delivered by the ITA have met all our expectations since the beginning and this is exactly what our athletes are entitled to demand,” said UWW President Nenad Lalovic. “It is therefore with complete trust that the UWW has not only renewed the partnership until end of 2024 but also delegated the full program to the ITA. We want our athletes to be confident that they compete in a clean environment, thanks to a dedicated team of experts”.

All other areas of the UWW's anti-doping program continue to be managed by the ITA with the same commitment to quality and efficiency following a comprehensive and intelligence-led approach. This includes the entire testing program for UWW, both in- and out-of-competition, the risk assessment and test distribution planning, the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) management, the running of Intelligence & Investigations (I&I) activities and the possibility for the UWW community to confidentially share any actual or perceived doping offences via the ITA’s secure reporting platform REVEAL. The ITA is also responsible for the administration of whereabouts failures and independent results management of any potential anti-doping rule violations stemming from the UWW anti-doping program. All clean sport activities on behalf of the UWW are carried out by the ITA in strict compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code and its International Standards, with ITA’s dedicated Regulatory Compliance Unit ensuring full alignment with all mandatory rules.

#JapanWrestling

Gomi Takes Big Strides as Japan’s Next Greco-Roman Hope

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - 13:33 By Vinay Siwach

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JAPAN (February 18) -- Koto GOMI (JPN) has been racking up titles in recent times. Last year, he won the U23 world title, the first for Japan in six years. He then won the All-Japan Championships gold in December for the first time.

Making his senior debut in 2026, the 21-year-old had an extraordinary run at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series event, winning the 60kg gold medal and giving up only three points in four bouts. In the final, Gomi defeated world silver medalist Alisher GANIEV (UZB), 10-0, using three arm-throws to secure the victory inside the first period.

Koto GOMI (JPN)Koto GOMI (JPN) defeated Alisher GANIEV (UZB) in the Zagreb Open final. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Amirreza Aliasgari)

While it may be too early to call Gomi a protégé, he may have already ended Japan's search for a new star at 60kg and a replacement for Olympic champion Kenichiro FUMITA (JPN).

The 30-year-old Fumita is a two-time world champion and won silver at the 2023 World Championships. A silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, he turned it into gold at Paris 2024.

But Fumita has not stepped on the mat since. He took time off and was entered in the All-Japan Championships at 63kg, but later pulled out. Though he did not mention it, most in Japan cite weight-cut issues for his delayed return.

That leaves Yu SHIOTANI (JPN), Kaito INABA (JPN) and Gomi as the front-runners for the spot if Fumita cannot make it. Gomi pinned Shiotani and then beat Inaba via technical superiority at the National Sports Festival in October.

Two months later in December, he again beat Shiotani to earn a spot on Japan’s Asian Championships team.

Koto GOMI (JPN)
Koto GOMI (JPN), left, after winning the All-Japan University Championships. (Photo: Koto Gomi / Instagram)

Early start

Gomi was born in the Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo. The prefecture has given wrestling some of its biggest stars including Olympic champions Takuto OTOGURO (JPN) and Tatsuhiro YONEMITSU (JPN).

He was introduced to wrestling by his father Joe, a kickboxer. Joe would take his eldest son Koto to far away tournaments to compete. Though the results were not always satisfying, Shiro wanted his son to face high-level competition every year.

"Wrestling has few injuries," he was quoted as saying by Japan Wrestling Federation in 2010. "It's a sport that develops physical ability and trains both the body and mind. I think it's the perfect martial art for children.

"It's a sport where older students take care of younger students. They naturally take care of you without you having to teach them." 

It's true in Gomi's case. Like Gomi, both Fumita and Inaba hail from the same prefecture and attended the same high school.

Fumita's father, Toshiro, introduced most wrestlers to Greco in their high school. While Fumita and Inaba moved to Nippon Sports Science University, Gomi is at the Ikuei University, same as the world and Olympic champions in women's Sakura MOTOKI (JPN) and Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN).

Koto GOMI (JPN)Koto GOMI (JPN), blue, at the 2022 U20 World Championships. (Photo: United World Wrestling / Kostadin Andonov)

Gomi began competing exclusively in Greco-Roman around 2022 but did not get satisfactory results internationally, finishing fifth and ninth at the two U20 World Championships.

In one of the memorable matches early in his career, Gomi had troubled the now Olympic Saied ESMAEILI (IRI). At the 2022 U20 Worlds, he was led 6-4 and then 9-4 at one point in the match against the Iranian but he lost it 13-9.

Two years later, Gomi emerged as a dominant force. He won the gold medal at the U20 Asian Championships and all age-group domestic competitions. His only losses came at the senior All-Japan Championships, winning bronze at three of them.

Gomi said his recent success was the result of years of hard work, particularly at university.

"I don't seem to be the athletic type, but rather a refreshing liberal arts type, and that's how I'm often seen," Gomi said. "I'm competitive. I get really annoyed and frustrated when I lose in practice. The hard work I've put in over the past four years at university is starting to show in the past year."

Domestic challenges

In 2025, Gomi suffered only one loss in five tournaments -- a 10-0 humiliation to Shiotani in May. But in December, he avenged that loss in the final of the All-Japan Championships and earned a chance to represent Japan at the 2026 Asian Championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan in April.

The December win also put Gomi a step closer to the 2026 World Championships and Asian Games. He now has to win the Japan National Championships in May to qualify for both. If he fails to win, he will have a wrestle-off with the winner on the same day.

Both the U23 World Championships and the Zagreb Open showcased Gomi's technical excellence. He often uses a two-on-one to set up his arm-throws and arm-drags. It is his swiftness, rather than brute force, that allows him to complete his attacks.

In par terre, Gomi has an excellent high gut-wrench, which he used effectively against Sajjad ABBASPOUR (IRI) in Zagreb and Maxwell BLACK (USA) at the U23 Worlds.

"I'm starting to find my strengths, like in terms of technique, so I think that's a good thing," he said.

Despite his rapid rise, Gomi is cautious about calling himself the best yet. He knows he still needs to get past several domestic rivals before becoming Japan’s first-choice wrestler at 60kg.

"It's not like that, but I was conscious of focusing on my strengths and techniques and taking the initiative to attack," he said. "But, there are many other players in Japan, like Fumita and Inaba, and I don't think I can beat them yet, so I'll continue to practice hard."

But if Zagreb was any indication, it may not take long.