Wrestling should not be confused with "professional wrestling" (what's known in German as "catchen"), a modern entertainment sport especially popular in Japan and the US.
Wrestling itself is mentioned in the Bible and in the Mahabharata, one of the great Indian epics. It featured at the ancient Olympics both as its own event and as part of the pentathlon, with athletes competing naked and without weight classes — the winner was whoever threw his opponent to the ground three times first; there was no ground fighting as there is today.
Women's wrestling has only been an Olympic discipline since Athens 2004, and women don't compete in the Greco-Roman style. Men's wrestling has been on the program since the first modern Games in 1896.
The two styles, freestyle and Greco-Roman, differ in that freestyle allows attacks on the whole body, while Greco-Roman only permits attacks above the waist. Beijing 2008 adds a third style for the first time: beach wrestling.
As in many countries, wrestling is a traditional folk sport in China, known in modern Chinese as "shuaijiao." An ancient form of shuaijiao is considered a forerunner of sumo wrestling — "shuai" literally means "to throw to the ground," while "jiao" means something like "to wrestle with the legs" or "to hook."
The many forms of shuaijiao have a long history, drawing on both Chinese and Mongolian martial traditions.
China's national wrestling coach, Sheng Zetian — himself a three-time Olympic bronze medalist (1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney) — said China's chances of wrestling gold in 2008 have never been better (source: Xinhua).
Wrestling runs from August 9–19 at a newly built arena (completed August 2007) on the campus of China Agriculture University in Beijing's Haidian district, about 2km west of the Olympic Green. The 8,000-seat venue also hosts 35 other events in table tennis, basketball, volleyball and badminton.
China's biggest wrestling hope is Wang Xu. She started in judo in 1998 before switching to wrestling just a year later. After only five years of training, she arrived in Athens in 2004 as a virtual unknown and won gold in the 72kg freestyle category at just 19 years old. With a home crowd behind her in Beijing, she's a strong favorite to repeat that success in 2008.
Chinese medalists in wrestling since 1984:
Athens 2004:
Wang Xu (freestyle, 72kg, W, gold)
Sydney 2000:
Sheng Zetian (Greco-Roman, bantamweight, M, bronze)
Atlanta 1996:
Sheng Zetian (Greco-Roman, bantamweight, M, bronze)
Barcelona 1992:
Sheng Zetian (Greco-Roman, bantamweight, M, bronze)
Seoul 1988: no medals
Los Angeles 1984: no medals
