FILA Announces Olympic Wrestling weight classes, rules changes, competition format through 2016

Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland (December 17, 2013) The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) announced the weight classes for men and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman competition for the Olympic Games in 2016.  The organization that governs the sport worldwide also announced rule changes and competition format that will begin Jan. 1, 2014.

The new classes became necessary when FILA added two classes to women’s freestyle competition and reduced each of the men’s styles by one weight class, therefore setting a 6-6-6 field for men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle wrestling for the Games in Rio de Janeiro.

FILA’s Technical Commission worked with the federation’s Medical, Scientific, Referee and Athlete’s Commissions to form the basis of changes for the sport of Wrestling that will be in effect through the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The new weight classes for the Olympic Games, which go into effect in 2014, are:

Men’s Freestyle (all weights in kilograms):  57, 65, 74, 86, 97, 125

Greco-Roman:  59, 66, 75, 85, 98, 130

Women’s Freestyle:  48, 53, 58, 63, 69, 75.

For FILA competitions, including world and continental championships, world cups and Golden Grand Prix championships, FILA will add 61 and 70 kg classes to the men’s freestyle, 71 and 80 kg to the Greco-Roman field and 55 and 60 kg to the women’s freestyle competition.

The weight classes for Juniors and Cadets were not changed. 

FILA has adopted  the following amendments to the rules which will be in force for 2014:

For all Disciplines:

Technical Superiority:  A match will end at 10 points advantage in Freestyle and 8 points in Greco-Roman.

Throws:  Four points will be awarded for all throws in Freestyle.  In Greco-Roman 4 points will be awarded for throws that are followed and controlled and 5 points will be awarded for grand amplitude throws.

End of Match:  In all disciplines elimination of  two three-point throws and one five point throws ending a match.

Par Terre:  Elimination of the five-second count for the one additional back point exposure and any penalty for a false start will receive one point, not two as currently practiced.

Greco-Roman Wrestling:

Passivity:   For the first warning the match is not stopped.

Match ending in 0-0:  The last wrestler warned loses.

Takedown:   Two points are awarded from a standing or neutral position for a throw without back exposure.

Challenge Procedure:

The Appeal  Jury will render its decision without consulting the refereeing body.

If the Appeal Jury overturns the decision of the refereeing body, the referees will be warned.  A second warning will result in the suspension of the referees.  The decision of the Appeal Jury is final.  There will be no challenge authorized in case of penalties for passivity.

Criteria to determine ties in Team Competition

1st Criteria:  Total of classification points after eight matches between two teams.

2nd Criteria:  Most victories by falls, injury, default, forfeit or disqualification.

3rd Criteria:  Most match victories by technical superiority.

4th Criteria:  Most technical points obtained in all matches.

5th Criteria:  Fewest technical points given in all matches.

FILA kept its one-day competition format for each discipline: Greco-Roman, Men’s Freestyle and Women’s Freestyle, but changed the competition times to 10 a.m. for the first session. A 30-minute minimum time between matches has also been made compulsory.

“We believe we have set the foundation for both the Olympic Games and the FILA championships with these weight classes, rule changes and competition format” said FILA President Nenad Lalovic.  “We thank the members of the Technical Commission for their guidance in this important decision.  We used the knowledge and ideas of various commissions in FILA to reach these decisions.  It was a total organizational effort.

“We want to make changes that make the sport better,” he added.  “If we need to change, we will. Our goal is to be excellent in everything we do.”

About FILA

FILA, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, is the global governing body of the sport of wrestling. It works to promote the sport and facilitate the activities of its 177 national federations from around the world. It is based in Corsier-Sur-Vevey, Switzerland.

To learn more about FILA visit its official website, http://www.fila-official.com/; Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/fila.official, or Twitter handle, @FILA_Official.

For more information please contact FILA at 41.21 312 84 26 or Bob Condron, Press Officer, condron@fila-wrestling.com or rscondron@yahoo.com.

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