Social Media

Wrestling Ranks Fourth on Social Media Among All International Federations

By Tim Foley

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (April 16) – United World Wrestling ranked fourth on social media among 35 international federations, according to an analysis performed and released by RedTorch, a social media tracking platform.

The analysis reviewed all recognized IFs rated their performance on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube based on a variety of factors.

Wrestling placed fourth overall, jumping seven places from the 2016 analysis. The federation, which only launched many of its accounts in 2013, also boasted the second-ranked Instagram account and the third-ranked Facebook page.

Growth rates among wrestling’s social media platforms was also notable  in 2017 with the sport’s Twitter audience increasing 46-percent and its YouTube viewership increasing 92-percent. Both increases were ranked third among all IFs.

YouTube growth was attributed to the popularity of the 2017 Wrestling World Championships in Paris, while Facebook increases were pegged to specialty documentary coverage like “Sacrifice,” a short film providing fans as inside look at the training conditions and personal lives of wrestlers in Cuba.

Wrestling’s media department was also honored last week with the “New Media Specialists of the Year Award” as presented by the National Wrestling Media Association (NWMA). In giving the award, the NWMA cited United World Wrestling’s short documentary features, match coverage and highlight clips from competitions around the world.

You can follow United World Wrestling online at the following accounts:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/unitedworldwrestling
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wrestling
Instagram: www.instagram.com/unitedworldwrestling
YouTube: www.youtube.com/unitedworldwrestling

#UnitedWorldWrestling

Lise Legrand, former world champion, elected CNOSF board member

By United World Wrestling Press

PARIS (September 15) -- Lise LEGRAND (FRA), a former world champion and Olympic bronze medalist, has joined the Board of Directors of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).

The 47-year-old former wrestler was an Olympic bronze medalist in the 63kg weight class at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the first Games in which women's wrestling featured. She finished fifth at the 2008 Games in Beijing.

Apart from the Olympic medal, Legrand, vice-president of the French Federation of Wrestling, is also a two-time World champion, winning gold in 1995 and 1997. She has two more medals from the World Championships, silver in 2002 and bronze in 1996.

In the European Championships, Legrand is a four-time gold medalist, two-time silver medalist and a four-time bronze medalist.

United World Wrestling congratulates Legrand for her appointment.