One of the oldest sports there is
Wrestling appears in Egyptian tomb paintings more than 4,000 years old, which show pairs of wrestlers in dozens of different holds, almost like a coaching manual. At the ancient Olympics it was added in 708 BC, a few decades after the Games began with a single footrace. The most famous ancient WRESTLER, Milo of Croton, won six Olympic titles, and a legend says he built his strength by carrying a calf on his shoulders every day until it grew into a bull.
Our ancient Greece page covers the Games themselves.
Greco-Roman is not really ancient
Today's Olympics have two styles. In GRECO-Roman, wrestlers may only attack above the waist and cannot use their legs to trip, so the sport is full of big lifts and throws. Despite the name, it was developed in France in the 1800s, and given a classical-sounding name to link it with the ancient Games. In FREESTYLE, which grew out of a British and American style called catch-as-catch-can, wrestlers can grab the legs and use them to score a TAKEDOWN.
A BOUT lasts two periods of three minutes. Points come for a takedown, for turning an opponent towards the MAT, for an ESCAPE and for a REVERSAL, when the wrestler underneath ends up on top. The PIN ends the bout at once: both of the opponent's shoulders held flat on the mat. Wrestlers wear a close-fitting SINGLET so there is nothing loose for the other to GRIP, and women's freestyle joined the Olympics in 2004.
Sawdust rings and eagle dances
Many places keep their own folk styles. In Cumbria in northern England, wrestlers in embroidered costumes start chest to chest with arms locked around each other, and the first to touch the ground with anything but their feet loses. In Switzerland, wrestlers in canvas shorts grapple in a ring of sawdust, and the champion at the biggest festival traditionally wins a live bull.
In Mongolia, wrestling is one of the three manly games of the summer Naadam festival, alongside archery and horse racing, though women now take part in the other two. There are no weight classes and no time limit, and the winner flaps his arms in a slow eagle dance. Wrestlers wear a small jacket open at the front, and a popular story says this is because a woman once entered in disguise and beat everyone. In Senegal, a style of wrestling called laamb rivals football for crowds, and its stars are among the most famous people in the country.
The wrestling on television
Professional wrestling on television is different: the winners are decided in advance, and the matches are planned performances, more like stunt shows. The performers are still serious athletes who train for years to LOCK a HOLD convincingly and to fall safely on a SLAM or a SUPLEX without hurting themselves or each other. A PINFALL is counted to three by the REFEREE slapping the mat, and a HEADLOCK or a CLINCH is often a moment for the performers to catch their breath and plan the next move.
At school and college, wrestling is a THROW-and-GRAPPLE sport where every TOURNAMENT is decided on the mat.