London Olympics: Wrestling

The London 2012 Olympic Wrestling events take place at the ExCeL Centre in the River Zone from Sunday 5 to Sunday 12 August. There are two different types of wrestling: Greco-Roman, where athletes can only use their arms and upper bodies, and Freestyle, in which competitors may use any parts of their bodies - including legs - to pin their opponents down. Matches, which can last three periods of two minutes, are won when one athlete pins another's shoulders to the ground. Points are also scored by throwing opponents or taking them down - and if one wrestler has won the first two periods, then there is no need for a third period. Wrestling was first held at the ancient Olympics in 708 BC, and Greco-Roman Wrestling has been an Olympic sport since the first Games of the modern era in 1896, with Freestyle Wrestling introduced eight years later at St Louis 1904. For those slightly cynical about the sport, Olympic Wrestling is far cry from the staged stuff you see on American TV: it's a body-to-body combat sport which combines power, technique and sheer strength - and none of it is scripted whatsoever.