News
European Championship in Brussels
The Grappling, Pankration and Mixed Martial Arts European Championship was organised in Brussels (BEL) on 27-30 June 2012 and counted a record participation of 22 countries and 200 athletes. It was held at Palais du Midi in the city centre and was also the occasion for the delegations to enjoy the cultural and gastronomic offer of the Capital of Europe. The organisation was conferred to the Belgian Committee of Associated Wrestling Styles (B.A.W.S.) chaired by Mr. Carlo La Torre and member of the Royal Belgian Wrestling Federation. Despite its recent creation and limited staff, B.A.W.S. delivered a high-quality event with an innovative visual identity, the support from the City of Brussels through its Sport Commissioner, Mr. Bertin Mampaka, the participation of serveral sponsors among which Ice Watch, Performance, Gameness and Ataste that all gave prizes to the medallists, the broadcast on Beinsport, Life TV and GnP TV, and the use of the Dartfish video system that allowed a fast and effective management of the challenge replays and the upload of all videos on the FILA WebTV after the competition. The competition also inaugrated the participation of several new National Federations, that is: Germany, Georgia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium. Lebanon was also represented by Mr. Nadim Nassif, national spokesman, who took the international referee's exam.
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Guam endorses the non-Olympic styles
Guam Amateur Wrestling Federation has recently taken formal steps towards the recognition of grappling, pankration, and combat grappling. The Federation appointed Mr. Melchor Manibusan to coordinate the development of the non-Olympic styles throughout the island and quite some work has already been accomplished. The first official clinic was held on 27-28 August 2011 under the supervision of Mr. Larry Papadopoulos, FILA Instructor and World Grappling & Pankration Committee member, who gave in-depth lectures on the various regulations, tournament procedures, refereeing systems, and on mat techniques. All participants from Guam and E.F. Micronisia highly enjoyed the course and are now ready to apply their knowledge to the national qualifier for this year's Cadet, Junior, Veteran World Championship. Guam will also compete with 4 athletes in the Senior World Championship that will take place in Belgrade from 29 September till 01 October 2011 and play an important role by hosting the 2013 Oceania Championship in all Olympic and non-Olympic wrestling styles.
European Championship in Yuzhny
The city of Yuzhny in South Ukraine hosted the 2011 European Championship in Grappling, Pankration and Combat Grappling from 9 till 11 June 2011. The Championship was placed under the responsibility of the Ukraine Pankration Federation and its 1st Vice-president, Mr. Alexander Mandrik, also member of the FILA World Grappling & Pankration Committee. The organising committee offered optimum hospitality and competition conditions to the 180 athletes who all spent an unforgettable time in Yuzhny. The FILA President and Secretary General honored the event with their presence and used the opportunity to award the six 2010 athletes of the year, that is: Océane Talvard (FRA) and Maciej Polok (POL) in no-gi grappling, Karolina Zawodnik (POL) and Grzegorz Kloc (POL) in gi grappling, Galyna Mateichuk (UKR) and Oleksandr Vysotskiy (UKR) in pankration.
If Italo Morello's team dominated the polydamas and palaismata demonstrations, the indivudal pankration tournament was led by the Ukrainian team that won no less than 10 gold medals. After his victory in no-gi grappling, Dmytro Baranov (UKR) repeated his performance and was placed at the top of the pankration world ranking as well. The Russian team came next in line with 3 gold medals and a striking performance of Ilya Batin over Oleksandr Vysotskiy (UKR), 2010 athlete of the year and winner of the World Combat Games. In women's pankration, Viktoriia Syniavina took the lead of the world ranking after her titles in Ukraine and Switzerland. Viktoriia displayed great talent throughout the competition by winning medals in grappling, pankration, and combat grappling. Consult the complete pankration results.
The Championship was also the occasion for a World Committee meeting with the attending members: Mr. Raphaël Martinetti, FILA President, Ms. Anne Pellaud, Coordinator of the Committee, and MM. Italo Morello (ITA), Clint Kingsbury (CAN), Alexander Mandrik (UKR), Hideo Kamaga (JPN), and Lazaros Papadopoulos (AUS). The 2012 and 2013 calendars were discussed as well as the strategies to further promote our disciplines. The event pictures are available under each sport's section and the videos will soon be uploaded in the WebTV.
FILA gives its appreciation to the Ukraine Pankration Federation and its President, Mr. Viktor Korzh, for its excellent organisation and awaits all teams in Belgrade for the 2011 World Championship.
FILA broadens its anti-doping activity
FILA encourages all National Federations managing the non-Olympic styles to lead campaigns in view of raising awareness on the dangers of doping and instilling the values of clean sport to all their clubs. WADA developped an extensive range of didactic tools that are made available on its website at www.wada-ama.org. You will find a youth zone with various videos and quizes as well as the list of prohibited substances, now available as free application for iPhones. The athletes belonging to the registered testing pool can also access the ADAMS system to update their personal information and download Therapeutic Use Exemption forms in case of medical treatments comprising prohibited substances.
Test your anti-doping knowledge by playing the quiz available in 24 languages!
2010 Athletes of the Year
FILA is glad to announce the awarding of the title "Athlete of the Year" to the pankratiasts who did an outstanding performance in 2010. The laureates were determined upon the results obtained at the World Championship, Continental Championship, and World Combat Games according to the point system adopted by FILA:
- Pankration Men: Oleksandr Vysotskyi from Ukraine (52 points), Gold at the World Championship, Gold at the European Championship, and Gold at the World Combat Games.
- Pankration Women: Galyna Mateichuk from Ukraine (33 points), Bronze medal at the World Championship and Gold medal at the European Championship.
The award ceremony for the Athletes of the Year will take place on the occasion of the 2011 European Championship in Yuzhny.
As per 2011, FILA will implement a world ranking of all athletes competing in the FILA events with live update of their score on the FILA website. It will be a very powerful tool to use by the National Federations and athletes for their approaches to the media and sponsors. In order to encourage the participation in international tournaments and to avoid ties in points, 4 additional tournaments - called FILA Grand Prix - will be included in the world ranking. All National Federations and Committees can apply for a FILA Grand Prix if they want to see their tournament count for the world ranking. The best candidates will be selected by the World Grappling & Pankration Committee upon analysis of their bid. In order to stimulate the activity and further reward the athletes with cash prizes, FILA will also raise an annual fund that will be evenly split among the 8 Athletes of the Year in each discipline. More details on the world ranking can be found in the Regulations for the Nomination of the Athletes of the Year .
FILA warmly congratulates the 2010 laureates for their great achievement and wishes plenty of success to all athletes who will enter the race for next year's nominations!
