FILA announces new weight classes for international wrestling

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
12/18/2001


FILA, the international wrestling federation, has notified all of the national wrestling federations of the new weight classes for Senior-level international wrestling. These weight classes will be in effect starting January 1, 2002.    Men's freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling will change to seven weight classes, down one weight class from the previous season.    Women's freestyle wrestling will increase from six to seven weight classes. Only four of those weight classes will be contested during the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.    The weight classes for Senior men for all international competitions, including the Olympic Games are:    55 kg (121 lbs.)  60 kg  (132 lbs.)  66 kg (145.2 lbs.)  74 kg (162.8 lbs.)  84 kg (184.8 lbs.)  96 kg (211.2 lbs.)  120 kg (264 lbs.)    The weight classes for Senior Women for all international competitions (excluding the Olympics) are:    48 kg (105.6 lbs.)  51 kg (112.2 lbs.)  55 kg (121 lbs.)  59 kg (129.8 lbs.)  63 kg (138.6 lbs.)  67 kg (147.4 lbs.)  72 kg (158.4 lbs.)    The weight classes for Senior Women at the Olympic Games are:     48 kg (105.6 lbs.)  55 kg (121 lbs.)  63 kg (138.6 lbs.)  72 kg (158.4 lbs.)    For both men and women, the lowest weight class was increased and the highest weight class was decreased.     For men, the lowest class moved up from 54 kg to 55 kg, and the highest weight class dropped from 130 kg to 120 kg.    For women, the lowest weight class moved up from 46 kg to 48 kg, and the highest weight class dropped from 75 kg to 72 kg.    FILA also announced that for all other age groups the weight classes will remain the same, except for Junior men (ages 17-20), where the highest weight class will drop to 120 kg.    According to the FILA announcement, "these modifications were obligatory after the IOC's decisions concerning the wrestling events entered in the programme of the Olympic Games."    FILA has asked all international federations that are conducting tournaments at the beginning of 2002 to "underline and draw attention of the participating countries on the new weight categories."