Wrestling is a combat sport built around controlling and outmanoeuvring an opponent using holds, throws and takedowns rather than strikes. International competition is governed by United World Wrestling (UWW), which oversees both Olympic styles, freestyle and Greco-Roman, along with women’s wrestling, contested internationally in the freestyle discipline.
Objective
A wrestler wins either by pinning both of their opponent’s shoulders to the mat, known as a fall, or by scoring more points through takedowns and other legal moves before time runs out.
Rules and regulations
- Senior bouts are contested over two three-minute periods with a short break between them.
- In freestyle, wrestlers can attack an opponent’s legs and use holds anywhere on the body, while Greco-Roman wrestling bans any hold below the waist or use of the legs to lift or trip an opponent, making upper-body throws central to the style.
- UWW updated several rules from 2026, including closing a loophole that let defenders step off the mat on their knees without conceding a point, tightening the definition of a two-point throw, and deciding tied Greco-Roman bouts in favour of whoever scored the first technical point.
- Wrestlers who stall, avoid contact deliberately or interlock fingers to block an opponent can be cautioned, which also hands a point to the other wrestler.
Equipment and playing area
- Bouts take place on a circular mat around nine metres across, with a central wrestling area roughly seven metres in diameter and a one-metre passivity zone marked near the edge to discourage wrestlers from stalling out of bounds.
- Competitors wear a tight-fitting singlet, and headgear is compulsory at some age levels to protect the ears.
Scoring
- Points are awarded for takedowns, exposing an opponent’s back to the mat, reversals and forcing an opponent out of the wrestling area.
- A bout ends early if a wrestler builds a lead of ten points in freestyle or women’s wrestling, or eight points in Greco-Roman, known as technical superiority.
- If neither wrestler is pinned or reaches that margin, the one with more points when the clock runs out is declared the winner.
