Freestyle Wrestling at the Olympic Games
Wrestling has a long history at the Olympic Games. Wrestling was an event at the ancient Olympic Games, and then included in the first Olympic Games in 1896 (Greco-Roman style).
women's freestyle wrestlingIn 1904, the Olympic Games added the second wrestling event and called it "freestyle" to the Greco-Roman event, which allowed the wrestlers to use their legs for pushing, lifting and tripping, and they could also hold their opponents above or below the waist.
The women's freestyle wrestling competition was introduced in 2004.
Current Weight Classes (men)
- Freestyle bantamweight (57kg)
- Freestyle lightweight (65kg)
- Freestyle welterweight (74kg)
- Freestyle middleweight (86kg)
- Freestyle heavyweight (97kg)
- Freestyle super heavyweight (125kg)
Current Weight Classes (women)
- Freestyle flyweight (2004+) - 50kg
- Freestyle lightweight (2004+) - 53kg
- Freestyle welterweight (2016+) - 57kg
- Freestyle middleweight (2004+) - 62kg
- Freestyle light heavyweight (2016+) - 68kg
- Freestyle heavyweight (2004+) - 76kg
Previous Weight Classes (men)
- Freestyle light flyweight (1904, 1972-1996)
- Freestyle featherweight (1904-08, 1920-2008)
- Freestyle flyweight (1904, 1948-2000)
- Freestyle light heavyweight (1920-1996)
Trivia
- The first female athlete in any sport to win four individual gold medals at four consecutive Games was Japanese freestyle wrestler Kaori Icho (2004-2016)
- Japan's Osamu Watanabe won the freestyle featherweight division wrestling gold medal at Tokyo 1964, and did it by going through the competition without conceding a point. He retired after the Games, making him the only wrestler to go throughout their Olympic Games career without conceding any points.
Related Pages
- About Freestyle Wrestling
- Wrestling at the Olympic Games
- More about the sport of Wrestling
- List of Olympic Sports
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