ACOG - Wrestling - IBM

History of Wrestling - Greco-Roman

One of the world's oldest sports, wrestling was part of the Ancient Olympic Games. The names of Olympic champions have been recorded as far back as 708 B.C. and paintings depicting various wrestling holds date back to 3400 B.C.

Greco-Roman wrestling first appeared on the Olympic Programme in 1896, and with the exception of 1900 and 1904, has been a part of every Olympic Games since. Finland and Sweden won the most Olympic medals from 1896 through 1948. But with the Soviet Union's entry into the Games in 1952, the Soviets dominated the event, winning the most Greco-Roman medals at every Olympic Games in which they participated.

Freestyle wrestling became part of the Olympic Programme in 1904 with the United States, Japan, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union and Sweden and Finland producing the most gold medalists.

This is an official publication of The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


Olympic Factoid
Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.