Greco-Roman Wrestling at the Olympic Games
Wrestling has had a long association with the Olympic Games. Wrestling was an event at the ancient Olympic Games. The organizers of the first Olympic Games in 1896 included Greco-Roman wrestling, a style they believed to be an exact carryover from the wrestling styles used in ancient times. Since the first Games, Greco-Roman wrestling has been included in every Olympic program, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics.
In 1904, the Olympic Games added the second wrestling event, freestyle wrestling. The Greco-Roman Wrestling events are for men only. Women's freestyle wresting was added in 2004.
Greco-roman wrestling competition Current Greco-Roman Weight Classes (2024)
This is a men's only event. Six gold medals are up for grabs.
- Greco-Roman bantamweight (60kg)
- Greco-Roman lightweight (67kg)
- Greco-Roman welterweight (77kg)
- Greco-Roman middleweight (87kg)
- Greco-Roman heavyweight (97kg)
- Greco-Roman super heavyweight (130kg)
Previous Weight Classes
- Greco-Roman open (1896)
- Greco-Roman light flyweight (1972-1996)
- Greco-Roman flyweight (1948-2000)
- Greco-Roman light heavyweight (1908-1996)
Trivia
- In the 1908 final in middleweight Greco-Roman wrestling between Frithiof Martensson and Mauritz Andersson, the competition was postponed one day to allow Martensson to recover from a minor injury. Martensson won.
- A semi-final in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1912 between Russian Martin Klein and Finland's Alfred Asikainen took 11 hours. The winner Klein was too exhausted to compete in the final.
- Cuban wrestler Mijaín Lopez is the first athlete to win a gold medal in the same event five straight times. He won the men's Greco-Roman wrestling at all Olympic Games from 2008 to 2024.
Related Pages
- About Greco-Roman Wrestling
- Wrestling at the Olympic Games
- More about the sport of Wrestling
- List of Olympic Sports
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