Olympic Wrestling was born in Greece and it is one of the most ancient, traditional sports practised in all world - it has been pratised 5.000 b.C., according to some archaeological objects that were found.

Actually, this sport is a sort of battle between two persons, in which the main objective is to throw down the adversary putting his/her shoulder-blades on the carpet (which are composed of mattresses) for 1 second, and respecting some rules (you can’t be violent or hurt your adversary, for instance).

Characterized by the rebelliousness and by the determination to show who are the strongest, young people (particularly, the young boys) like this kind of sport! The doctors, pedagogues, physical education teachers and so on recommend this sport because it is advantageous for our musculature - it increases and fortifies the muscles - and also for our mind - it develops it because we have to think and to be as a sharp as a needle to avoid getting “caught” by our adversary and to “catch” him. In Olympic wrestling there are also many assault and defence skills that you could learn through your Olympic Wrestling coaching.

This sport appeared in Portugal at the beginning of the 20th century (1904) but not as a sport. It appeared as a circensian art – the circus’ people invited a spectator to throw down a sort of Hercules (a man belonging to the circus) and if that spectator could do it, the circus offered him a lot of money! That “circus art” was developed and became a sport.

There are three types of Olympic Wrestling: Greek-Romanic (also known as wrestling), Olympic Free Style and Female Style – Luta Greco-Romana, Luta Livre e Luta Feminina in Portuguese, respectively. They all have the same purpose but with some differences too: if you practise wrestling you can’t make use of your legs; if you practise Free Style or Female style you can. Besides these three types of Olympic wrestling there are also the divisions into categories which are determined by the sex (female or male), the weight (category of 57kg, for example) and by the age (the beginners, juniors, seniors…).

The first National Championship of Olympic Wrestling took place in Portugal in 1905 and the winner was Ribeiro da Fonseca who belonged to Clube Naval Madeirense and the first International Championship of Olympic Wrestling in Lisbon occured in 1906, in which Paul Pons (a French man) came first.

In 1912, the Federação Internacional de Lutas Amadores was created and some years later (1925) the Federação Portuguesa de Lutas Amadoras was also founded. It is this association that actually organizes the following events: Campeonatos Nacionais Individuais (Individual National Championships), Campeonatos Nacionais por Equipas (National Championships between teams) and Taça de Portugal (Portugal Cup). Since then, many championships and matches have occured and the Portuguese wrestlers have won several medals and important places in European and World championships of Olympic wrestling:

• 1972 --> Luís Grilo (57kg category) took the 9^th place in the Olympic Games – the best Portuguese classification in Olympic Games until now.
• 1998 --> Luís Fontes (the actual Portuguese female team’s coach) took the 6^th place in the European championship.
• 1999 --> Hugo Passos (a deaf-and-dumb man) is the vice-champion of the European championship representing the juniors’ category.
• 2005 --> Hugo Passos came first in Olympic wrestling for deaf people. This man is considered the best wrestler in Portugal and he is a big honour for all of the people in Portugal.

Concerning the Clubs of Olympic wrestling it is important to say that actually, sixteen teams are in competition, being Sporting Clube de Portugal the team which has won more championships. The most recent winner of Campeonato Nacional por Equipas is Sociedade Recreativa da Baixa da Serra (located at Moita - Setúbal).

More than fifty Olympic Wrestling clubs with hundreds of wrestlers are integrated in Federação Portuguesa de Lutas Amadoras. There are also many coaches, societies, clubs, and so on spread throughout Portugal and it is because of them that this sport exists! So, many people keep on “fighting” to maintain the Olympic Wrestling alive!

There are some sites about Olympic Wrestling in Portugal which can be visited:

http://www.fila-wrestling.com

http://www.fplutasamadoras.pt

http://www.abola.pt/videos/index.asp?op=17