Russia rule but Iran are catching - London 2012 - Wrestling

8/12/2012 12:00:00 AM

Despite being one of the powerhouses of wrestling, Iran went into London 2012 on the back of a poor run of just two golds in their last three Olympic Games.

However, Hamid Soryan won the -55kg division to take the first Wrestling gold of the Games and from then on, the Iranian Greco-Roman wrestlers never looked back.

Omid Noroozi won the -60kg the following day and by Tuesday the Iranian national anthem boomed out in the wrestling hall for a third time after Ghasem Rezaei won the heavyweight division.

Rezaei said Iran's success - they also won one silver and two bronze - did not come as a surprise.

'We expected this after the World Championships in Turkey,' he said. 'Everyone was certain then that we would achieve the best we can in London.

'All the athletes were expecting to do well because of all the hard work of the coaches. They built us all well physically.

'They understood the athletes as well as pushing them hard towards achieving their best.'

Russia's dominance was never really in doubt. The competition is so fierce in the country that any member of the team is considered a good shot for an Olympic medal.

They still had to deliver on the mat, however, and they did so with style, winning four golds, two silvers and five bronze.

Perhaps the most impressive performers in the team was Natalia Vorobieva, who pinned five-time world champion Stanka Zlateva Hristova to take gold in the -72kg division.

The Americans also left the hall with their heads held high after doubling their gold tally from Beijing 2008, with Jordan Burroughs and Jake Varner topping the podium in the -74kg and -96kg Freestyle.

Azerbaijan also enjoyed a fruitful Games, winning two golds, while Japan continued to dominate the women's Freestyle, winning three of the four golds on offer.

One team who went home not so happy were the Egyptians. On the final day of competition, two members of their team were disqualified after they turned up half an hour after competition had begun at ExCeL.

After four years of gruelling training, Saleh Emara and Abdou Omar Abdou Ahmed forfeited their place in the tournament after Egyptian officials forget that qualifying started at 0830, rather than at 1300.

Singapore 2010 adopts new sport formats

8/12/2010 3:39:00 PM

The first Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Singapore will feature all 26 sports currently on the programme of the London 2012 Olympic Games. What will differ in some cases are the disciplines and format, such as 3 on 3 street basketball, a mixed gender relay in the swimming pool, a medley relay on the track or events in which athletes from different National Olympic Committees compete on the same team. Read on to see what your favourite sports will consist of in Singapore...

Aquatics (diving and swimming)

Aquatics comprises diving and swimming. There will be two diving events for both men and women, 3m springboard and 10m platform. Swimming events include freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and medley, both individual and relay. As a first, a mixed gender event for 4 x 100m freestyle relay and 4 x 100m medley relay is included.

Archery

Archery will feature individual men, women and mixed team competitions. The distance that athletes will be shooting is 70m.

Athletics

Athletics comprises a total 36 events for both men and women. The track events will include 1000m and 3000m races as well as a 2000m steeplechase and a medley relay. There will be eight field events (four jumps and four throws).

Badminton

Badminton will feature men’s and women’s singles events in Singapore.

Basketball

Basketball 3 on 3 will be played at the YOG. There will be two teams of three players on court at any one time. This fast-paced game is played on a half court, with one basketball hoop. It includes two periods of five minutes each. The winner is the first team to score 33 points, or the team that is leading the game at the end of the fifteen minutes of play.

Boxing

Boxing will feature men’s events. There will be 11 different weight categories, ranging from 48kg to the 91kg+ division.

Canoe-Kayak

Canoe-Kayak will feature four events for men and two for women. Both will race
in head-to-head sprints and obstacle slaloms in the kayak category. The men will also compete in the same events in canoes.

Cycling

The Cycling competition will involve teams. Each team consists of three men and one woman. The three men are required to compete in one discipline each (BMX, MTB and Time Trial), while the woman has to compete in all three disciplines. All male riders also have to compete in the Road Race.

Equestrian

In Equestrian, only the jumping events will take place (team and individual). The Organising Committee will provide the horses, which will be assigned to riders by draw. For the team event, there will be six teams representing each FEI regional zone.

Fencing

Fencing will feature individual competitions in the foil, epée and sabre for men and women, and a mixed team competition.

Football

Football will consist of a six-team competition, representing all continents, for both men and women.

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is split into artistic and rhythmic, as in the Olympic Games. The artistic competition will feature eight individual men’s events and six individual women’s events. The rhythmic competition consists of two events – individual and team – for women.

Handball

Handball is a six-team tournament, representing all continents, for men and for women.

Hockey

Hockey is the same as football and handball – a six-team competition, representing all continents for both men and women.

Judo

There are a total of eight weight categories for both men and women in the Judo competition. There is also a mixed team event.

Modern Pentathlon

The Modern Pentathlon competition consists of four of the five modern pentathlon disciplines: fencing, swimming, running and shooting. The fifth discipline, riding, will not be competed at Singapore 2010. The run-shoot format will be competed. In the Combined event, laser shooting is being used for the first time.

Rowing

Both the men and women will compete in two events in Rowing – single sculls and pairs.

Sailing

The Sailing competition comprises four events, with men and women sailing in either the one person dinghy or the windsurfing.

Shooting

In Shooting, the men and women will compete in both air rifle and air pistol.

Table Tennis

Table tennis will consist of men’s singles, women’s singles and a mixed team competition.

Taekwondo

Taekwondo will see athletes competing in five weight categories per gender.

Tennis

There will be both men’s singles and doubles and women’s singles and doubles in the Tennis tournament.

Triathlon

The Triathlon competition format for individual competitions includes a 750m swim in open water, a 20km cycle ride and a 5km run. The 4 x mixed team relay competition includes a 250m swim in open water, a 7km cycle ride and a 1.7km run.

Volleyball

Volleyball is a six-team men’s and women’s competition.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting sees men competing in six weight categories, while women will compete in five weight categories. The combined results of the Snatch and the Clean & Jerk will produce the champion of each weight category.

Wrestling

The Wrestling competition will see men compete in Greco-Roman (five weight categories) and freestyle (five weight categories) and women in freestyle (four weight categories).

International Olympic Committee : News