Recognised as one of the world’s oldest sports, Wrestling was first held at the ancient Olympics in 708 BC, and Greco-Roman Wrestling was included at the Athens 1896 Games, the first of the modern era.
ExCeL is the largest competition venue at the London 2012 Games. It is made up of five different arenas, each of which is hosting a different sport at London 2012.
At Tokyo 1964, Japan’s Osamu Watanabe ended his career undefeated by winning his 186th consecutive match to claim Olympic gold.
The longest Wrestling contest in Olympic history occurred at Stockholm in 1912, when a middleweight match between Russia’s Martin Klein and Finland’s Alfred Asikainen went on for 11 hours.
Freestyle Wrestling developed in part from Catch as Catch Can, a variety of Wrestling that was popular in the 19th century and at fairs and festivals across the UK and the US.
Before point scoring was introduced, wrestling matches continued until one wrestler was finally forced to the ground.