SOURCE: www.rio2016.com

January 30, 2016

One of the most traditional Olympic sports, wrestling had a brush with oblivion in February 2013 when it was dropped from the Olympic programme for the Tokyo 2020 Games. Sevens months later it was reinstated after introducing a raft of changes to make it easier to understand and more appealing to young audiences, as well as increasing the participation of women.

Rejuvenated, the sport arrives in Rio this weekend - in the form of women's freestyle wrestling - for the Olympic test event. Fifty competitors from eight countries will take part in the event at Carioca Arena 1 on Saturday and Sunday (30-31 Janaury). During the Olympic Games both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling will be staged in the neighbouring Carioca Arena 2, which is being used for training during the test event.