United World Wrestling (UWW) President Nenad Lalović has been recognized by the United States’ National Wrestling Hall of Fame for the leading role he played in keeping wrestling on the Olympic programme.
Lalović took over as President of the then International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) on February 15, 2013, three days after the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) ruling Executive Board had recommended that wrestling should be dropped after Rio 2016.
His leadership led to wrestling's reinstatement during the IOC Session in Buenos Aires just seven months later and in September 2014 Lalović was re-elected to a six-year term on the same day that FILA officially became UWW.
The Serbian is the recipient of this year's Alan Rice Leadership Award, first presented in 2011 to the man it is named after; an instrumental figure in the success of Greco-Roman wrestling in the US.
"President Lalović has done an incredible job of strengthening wrestling within the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Games," said Lee Roy Smith, executive director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.