Anti-Doping

Wrestling to Join with Newly Formed International Testing Agency Through Tokyo 2020

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 - 15:32 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (September 18) – United World Wrestling’s bureau has agreed to sign with the International Testing Agency (ITA) to oversee and manage the sport’s anti-doping program.  Wrestling joins a growing list of International Federations who’ve signed with ITA in the past few months.

ITA will be in charge of wrestling’s entire anti-doping program, which includes in-competition and out-of-competition testing, results management including decision for positive tests, therapeutic use exemptions, and athlete education. United World Wrestling will remain responsible for being compliant to the WADA code.

“We are excited to join with the ITA to help ensure that our athletes have access to proper information about anti-doping policies and are ensured of clean competition,” said United World Wrestling president and IOC Executive board member Nenad Lalovic. “We believe the ITA will provide a good solution for wrestling by adding a number of excellent services to the organization.”

The ITA, which will take over all testing on January 1, 2018, recently old Inside the Games their mission was to restore confidence in the anti-doping system.

"We look forward to providing the global sport community and athletes with our expertise in clean sport," said the Foundation Board's President Valérie Fourneyron, the former French Sports Minister. "Our primary focus will be to regain trust by acting upon doping issues evenly across all sports worldwide."

#WrestleBelgrade

Explainer: How do wrestlers qualify for the Paris Olympic Games?

Monday, September 4, 2023 - 11:44 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 4) --- The path to Paris for 288 athletes will be a three stage process to determine who will wrestle for Olympic glory.

The first phase will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, at the 2023 World Championships, September 16-24th, where five quotas for the each of the 18 Olympic categories—a total of 90 quotas—will be allocated.

Wrestlers who earn a gold, silver or bronze will earn a bid. Additionally, the losers of the bronze-medal matches will wrestle in true fifth match, determining the fifth allocation in Belgrade.

Phase two is the continental qualification phase where 144 quotas handed out at the:
- Pan American Olympic Qualifier (Acapulco, Mexico, March 1-3)
- African Olympic Qualifier (Alexandria, Egypt, March 22-24)
- European Olympic Qualifier (Baku, Azerbaijan, April 4-7)
- Asian Olympic Qualifier (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, April 19-21)

The first and second place finishers at the Continental Olympic Qualifier earn an automatic bid to the Paris Olympics for their nation. 

The final stage for the Paris Olympic qualifying process comes down to Istanbul, Türkiye, for the Last Chance Qualifier, where the final 54 tickets will be booked. The gold and silver medalists and the winner of a true third match will punch their ticket to the Olympics.

Follow all the action from the World Championships, Continental Olympic Qualifiers and the Last Chance Qualifier, live on UWW+ or on, “The Home Of Wrestling,” UWW’s app.