Wrestling is a combative sport that uses grappling type maneuvers such as throws, takedowns, pins, joint locks, and other holds to ensure one competitor a victory . A wrestling bout is where two competitors compete in a physical competition who attempt to achieve and retain an more advantageous position. The military has also integrated wrestling techniques into their hand-to-hand combat systems as well as other martial arts.Wrestling is considered the oldest sport known to mankind; although there are multiple styles of wrestling the two that are performed in the Olympics are Freestyle and Greco-Roman. Just as they stay prostitution is the oldest profession known, Wrestling …show more content…
“Ancient Greeks athletes wrestled naked, with their bodies coated with olive oil and covered with a very thin layer of sand to protect their skin from the sun and cold during the winter. After wrestling they scraped this layer off with a strigil and washed themselves with water”( History of Wrestling ). Furthermore the Ancient Greeks decided to make wrestling superior when they held their Olympic Games. “In the Ancient Olympic Game, from 708 B.C., wrestling was the decisive discipline of the Pentathlon. In fact it was the last discipline to be held and it designated the winner of the Pentathlon, the only crowned athlete at the Olympic games.”( History of Wrestling ). However wrestling for the Romans was a little different, “ It was basis on the legacy of the Etruscans and the restoration of the Greek games”( History of Wrestling ). The Roman elite and middle class favored the sport of wrestling to a high extent.On the contrary though in “ 393 Emperor Theodosius I prohibited all pagan games and outlawed the Olympic Games; however the Olympic values sank into the Middle Ages”.(“ History of Wrestling”). In that …show more content…
Freestyle wrestling is also an Olympic event. Women’s competition was added to the Olympic program in 2004”( “Freestyle Wrestling”). Freestyle wrestling came into the Olympics in “1904 at the St.Louis Games and was only disputed by American wrestlers”(“ History of Wrestling”). However at the “Stockholm Olympic Games in 1912 freestyle wrestling was once again absent from the program”(“ History of Wrestling”). This shows how hard it was for an new art form of wrestling to ground and really become a popular sporting event in the Olympics. Furthermore, “ from this date the newly created International Federation, wrestling began to develop in every country”( “History of Wrestling”). Also freestyle wrestling started to gain some foreground on the Olympic level later as it continue to progress. “Freestyle wrestling was becoming dominated by the English and Americans”(“ History of Wrestling”). There are now are large number of famous practitioners of freestyle wrestling such as: Dan Gable, Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz, John Smith, and Jordan burroughs there is an extensive list of famous practitioners of freestyle wrestling. Also there are numerous amounts of famous women who are practitioners such