ASPC Update July 2019 | Page 19

United World Wrestling boosts female wrestling through international training camps in Kuortane OTC

A training camp for women’s wrestling was organized at the Kuortane Olympic Training centre with 46 athletes and coaches from 18 countries participated in this camp.

This camp, which focused on the women’s heavy weight category, included many of the world's best wrestlers: Natalia VOROBEVA (RUS), Petra OLLI (FIN), Erica WIEBE (CAN), Epp MÄE (EST), Martina KUENEZ (AUT), Aisuluu TYNBEKOVA (KGZ), Jenny FRANSSON (SWE), Zsanett NEMETH (HUN), Cynthia VESCAN (FRA) and many more. United World Wrestling provided financial assistance to 11 athletes from 7 countries to attend this training.

"We are happy to see such a high level camp is well organized here by our partner training centre," said Deqa Niamkey, UWW Development Director. "Not only is the technical ability of women’s wrestling rising fast, but we've also seen the rapid growth of women’s wrestling in many non-traditional wrestling countries."

Georgina Nelthorpe (GBR), 2019 U23 European Championships bronze medalist was one of the beneficiaries of the UWW program, "There are not many partners back home for me to practice with, being here enabled me to practice and learn from so many top athletes; and I made good friends with these amazing girls."

Tapio Korjus, Director of Kuortane Olympic Training Centre highly appraised the work and collaboration with UWW, and told us the positive impact that women’s wrestling brought to the centre. "Petra Olli is a famous star here in Finland and she lives and trains here. She has brought such a vibe into the sport and we are now expanding our wrestling hall and hopefully next year, we will be ready to provide better service to our athletes."

News from Finland from Tapio Korjus