United World Wrestling Hosts Webinar with Athletes Commission

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 18) -- United World Wrestling held a web-based discussion Monday with members of the Athletes Commission to gauge the current impact of coronavirus on wrestling-related activities worldwide. The webinar worked to provide insight into possible ways athletes and the broader wrestling community could move forward together.

Athlete commission members on the call included Komeil GHASEMI (IRI), Yanan SUN (CHN), Sofia MATTSSON (SWE), Odunayo ADEKURUOYE (NGR), Melonin NOUMONVI (FRA),  Arsen JULFALAKAYAN (ARM), and Mindaugas EZERSKIS (LTU).

United World Wrestling President Nenad Lalovic also joined the webinar and applauded commission members for dedicating their time and effort to getting the sport back on track.

Moderated by UWW Development Director Deqa Niamkey, the regional input of the athletes was gathered from each member of the commission, as well as their input on how things are looking for the future in their countries.

Even as vast regional differences in regulations and restrictions to sporting activities remain, President Lalovic has ensured his support and stressed the need for wrestling to "act together," and reminding the attendees that "we are not alone in this struggle."

Yuri Maier, 13-time Pan-Am medallist and IOC Athlete365 Career + Lead Educator also shared a presentation on the "Olympism & Coronavirus," noting the IOC's continued support of Olympic Solidarity scholarship holders and the Refugee teams that were established for Tokyo 2020.

Julfalakyan also used his time to update the commission on the latest IOC "Athletes Global Call on Coronavirus" which recently took place and was led by the IOC Athletes Commission

To give perspective on the process in the Americas, USA Wrestling president Rich Bender (USA) agreed to shared its ‘Return to the Mats’ guidelines, which will be reviewed by the UWW Bureau and Medical Commission when drafting its own Post-Coronavirus Operations Guidelines.

The meeting ended with all regions announcing their eagerness to get back on track with their Olympic preparations, and the announcement that the next meeting will be hosted June 30.

The UWW Development Webinars on ‘Improving Communication for Coaches’ will be held on the following dates: French, May 19; English, May 21; Spanish, May 26; and Russian, May 28.

Details of the webinars including the Zoom links have been shared with the National Federations.