Medical Conference

Wrestling Holds Medicine Conference; Commission Announces Key Collaboration

Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - 14:00 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

BUDAPEST (October 29) -- The World Wrestling Medicine Conference and Team Physician Course Program met last week in Budapest with 65 participants from 35 countries delivering a total of 22 presentations, 16 courses and one on-the-mat workshop over the program’s three days of events.

The conference was chaired and directed by Dr. Babak Shadgan and Dr. Szabolcs Molnar of the United World Wrestling (UWW) Medical and Anti-Doping Commission. 



A variety of topics were introduced across the three-days of conference presentations and team physician lectures. Prof. Dr. Nicola Maffulli focused on understanding, managing and preventing common injuries in wrestling, while Dr. Amir Pakravan tackled overuse and fatigue syndrome in wrestling; Dr. Eckart Diezemann focused on spinal injuries; and Dr. Reza Naghavi on the transmission of bloodborne illnesses. Other talks included reviews of prevention of common wrestling injuries, proper sports nutrition and updates on anti-doping regulations. 

Dr. Shadgan presented on the importance of proper referee decisions in stopping dangerous actions, and prevention of wrestling injuries. 

The conference also welcomed Kirsty Burrows (IOC consultant) and Dr. Judith Goss who brought attention to the discussion of on athlete safeguard and psychological harm in sports.



UWW 1S Referee and dentist Dr. Aviram Schmuely discussed about dental injuries and prevention in wrestling, also providing his refereeing point of view on medical issues.

When the Medical Commission met on Sunday the discussions focused on the review of the medical coverage the 2019 events, review of the recorded injuries, possibility for UWW certified team doctors to enter the FOP, the anti-doping program and the opportunity for developing Wrestling for visually impaired athletes.

The medical management of Wrestling competition was also discussed with the aim of helping doctors of local organizing committees earn proper training to take care of the medical coverage necessary for national and international tournaments. Dr. Pakravan also lead a discussion on how to properly care for an injured athlete when they are unable to leaver the mat on their own power, and Dr. Akos Santha discussed the principles of travel medications for teams.

The UWW Medical Commission also met in Budapest, announcing a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Sponsor Defense Soap.
 

Defense Soap CEO Guy Sako presented a document sharing his knowledge and experience on the prevention, education and treatment of skin infections within wrestlers. The research was then wrapped into an agreement between United World Wrestling and Defense Soap to develop an established Hygiene protocol for international wrestling to implement by the summer of 2020.

“This is a first for United World Wrestling Medical Commission to work closely with a sponsor that has extensive field knowledge and to work together to develop something positive long-term for the well-being of wrestlers worldwide,” said Shadgan. “We are excited about the effort.”

#JapanWrestling

Paris Olympic Champ Sakurai Retires at Age 24

Sunday, April 5, 2026 - 09:12 By Ken Marantz

Share this article

TOKYO (April 4) -- Having never really regained the motivation that led her to achieve her ultimate goal of an Olympic gold, Tsugumi SAKURAI (JPN) has decided to retire at the tender age of 24.

Sakurai, the women’s 57kg champion at the Paris Olympics, has announced that she will hang up her singlet and begin a second career nurturing a new generation of wrestlers and serving as a goodwill ambassador of sports for her native Kochi Prefecture in western Japan.

“After 21 continuous years, I feel I have reached the cutoff point of my wrestling career, so I have decided to retire,” Sakurai said at a press conference Friday at the Kochi Prefecture government office.

“I gave everything I had for the Olympics, and I was able to experience the feeling of achievement and the ultimate joy. It's difficult to win the Olympics without determination. I couldn't get back to the mindset I had before Paris. That is the biggest reason [for retiring].”

Known for her steely aggressiveness belying a quiet demeanor, and a wicked use of a 2-on-1 arm bar, Sakurai prefaced her triumph in Paris by winning three consecutive world titles, at 55kg in 2021 and back-to-back golds at 57kg in 2022 and 2023.

A U17 world champion in 2016, she won golds at the Asian Championships and Asian Games in 2022 and 2023, respectively, but suffered the second of just two career international losses at the 2024 Asian Championships, where she fell to Yongxian FENG (CHN) in the final.

She bounced back five months later for her crowning achievement in Paris, where she defeated 2016 Rio Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) 10-4 in the semifinals, then took the gold with a 6-0 victory over Anastasia NICHITA (MDA) in a rematch of the 2023 world final.

Making the win in Paris even more special was the fact that not only did Sakurai strike gold, but so did another Japanese wrestler who started the sport together with her at the kids wrestling club in Kochi run by her father.

Kotaro KIYOOKA (JPN), the freestyle 65kg champion in his Olympic debut, and Sakurai became the toast of Kochi, a rural prefecture fronting the Pacific on the island of Shikoku. They were paraded through the streets of the prefectural capital of Kochi City and hailed as heroes.

Like almost all of Japan’s medalists in Paris, the two took time off from the sport to run the gauntlet of TV interviews and variety shows, and just chill out in general. Sakurai, who returned to Kochi and started graduate studies in sport sciences at Kochi University, was particularly slow in returning to the mat.

In what would prove to be her first – and last – competition after Paris, she won the 57kg title at the second-tier Japan Women’s Open in October 2025, ostensibly to qualify for the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships the following December. That would be the starting point for domestic qualifying for major global tournaments.

But Sakurai never made it to the Emperor’s Cup, and has now fully turned the corner on a new career.

“Over the past year, this decision was made after talking to many people, fretting about it, and thinking things through,” she said.

Sakurai said that as an extension of her father’s Kochi Wrestling Club, she wants to run a series of clinics outside of the city, mainly in her hometown of Konan just to the east of Kochi, to expose more children to wrestling and help it grow.

“Aside from wrestling, I'm learning so many things in graduate school right now, so I want to acquire a wide range of knowledge so that I can give back to Kochi Prefecture properly,” Sakurai said. “I think there will be various problems when I put things into practice, so I want to acquire solid knowledge so that I can solve those problems.”

Fans at this week’s Asian Championships in Bishkek will see another product of the Kochi Wrestling Club in action in Moe KIYOOKA (JPN), Kotaro’s younger sister and a former world champion who will be looking to add the 53kg gold to the one she won at 55kg in 2024. She and Sakurai were also teammates at Ikuei University.

And the name Sakurai might soon be appearing on the world stage again. Her younger sister, Tsukino SAKURAI (JPN), won the Asian U15 title last year.