Welcome back to our final installment on the history of martial arts events held at the Summer Olympic Games. If you are just now joining us, at the bottom of the page we’ve linked the other posts related to this topic. These topics include an introduction to martial arts Olympic sports as well as a little information about each sport. To recap, these sports are Olympic Judo, Taekwondo, Boxing, and Fencing.
In today’s post, we’re going to be covering Olympic Freestyle and Greco Wrestling! If you’re looking for affordable martial arts schools in Raleigh, Gracie should be your top choice. Call us right now for more details about out free classes for beginners.
Highlighting Olympic Freestyle and Greco Wrestling
Olympic Freestyle Wrestling
Men have been wrestling since at least 3000 BC, based on paintings found on walls inside some caves. This sport was also a part of the ancient Olympics and dates all the way back to 708 BC. The sport was also added to the modern Games in 1904. However, women’s freestyle wrestling was not added until much later. After 100 years, the women’s event was finally added at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Freestyle wrestling is different from Greco. In freestyle, athletes are able to push with their legs, lift and trip opponents, and hold their opponents above or below the waist. There are 3 rounds per match. To win, a competitor must win 2 of the 3 rounds by accumulating points.
Men’s Olympic Weight Classes
- Up to 55kg
- 55 – 60kg
- 60 – 66kg
- 66 – 74kg
- 74 – 84kg
- 84 – 96kg
- 96 – 120kg
Women’s Olympic Weight Classes
- Up to 48kg
- 48 – 55kg
- 55 – 63kg
- 63 – 72kg
Olympic Greco Wrestling
Greco Roman Wrestling is different from freestyle. In Greco, athletes cannot hold their opponents below the waist or trip them. The most common moves consist of throws, head and body locks, and arm dragging.
Greco was first introduced at the modern Olympics in 1896, however it was absent during the 1900 and 1904 games. Currently, there are only events for men. Winning a match consists of beating your opponent by points in 2 of 3 rounds.
Men’s Olympic Weight Classes
- Up to 55kg
- 55 – 60kg
- 60 – 66kg
- 66 – 74kg
- 74 – 84kg
- 84 – 96kg
- 96 – 120kg
As you can see, the Olympic Games offers many different forms of martial arts competition. If you’d like to read more, be sure to check out the other posts associated with this topic that have been linked below.
- Martial Arts at the Olympics, An Introduction
- Highlighting Olympic Judo and Taekwondo
- Highlighting Olympic Boxing and Fencing
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