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Wrestling

"For he used to grip his antagonist by the fingers and bend them, and would not let go until he saw that his opponents had given in."- Pausanias, Description of Greece, second century A.D., about the tactics of three-time Olympic champion Leontiskos.

THE EVENT

Wrestling, a cherished sport among the Greeks, is the oldest of the Olympic combat events. Though hardly mild, wrestling was much less violent than the later combat sports of boxing and pankration.

Though biting, gouging or striking an opponent was forbidden, those were about the only rules. Tripping and some fairly vicious, limb-threatening holds were allowed. A Sicilian Greek named Leontiskos won at Olympia in mid-fifth century B.C. by breaking his opponent's fingers at the start. Strangling an opponent to make him concede also was permitted.

There were several ways to record a fall, the most dramatic of which was throwing a man to his back or shoulders. Merely touching a man's back or shoulders to the ground counted as a fall, with today's pin not part of the ancient sport. Stretching a man prone or binding him in a controlling hold from which he could not escape also counted as falls.

As in modern wrestling, posture and stance were critical. To protect themselves from being tripped backward or pulled forward, wrestlers stood with their weight on the balls of their feet, not the heels, with one or both knees bent. They thrust out with their hands looking for opportunities to attack, while also fending off attacks.

Milo of Kroton

Perhaps the most famous ancient athlete was Milo of Kroton, a six-time wrestling champion. Milo won the boys' wrestling in the 60th Olympiad in 540 B.C. and the men's from the 62nd to 66th Olympiads, 532 to 516 B.C. While modern-day athletes rarely compete in more than two or three consecutive Olympiads, Milo resisted retirement. By the time he competed in his eighth Games, the 67th Olympiad in 512 B.C., he likely was 40 or older . He lost because his younger opponent employed a strategy to fatigue him.

Born in southern Italy, where Greece had many colonies, Milo enjoyed showing off his strength, and there are many legends about these displays. Milo would hold a pomegranate in his hand, and though no one could pry his fingers from the fruit, he would never crush it. Milo would stand on an oiled disc and dare anyone to push him off. He would tie a rope around his forehead, then break it with his bulging veins. And, most spectacularly, he carried a 4-year-old bull around the stadium at Olympia before eating it in one day.

In the end, his fame and strength did not spare him a humiliating death. While wandering through the forest, Milo found a tree trunk with wedges inserted in it for splitting. In an attempt to test his strength, Milo placed his hands into the crevice and tried to split the tree. The wedges loosened and fell out, but the trunk closed on his hands, trapping him. According to the tale, he fell prey to wild beasts.

When the Olympics resumed in Athens in 1896, wrestling was a natural carryover from ancient times. Organizers allowed competition solely in the Greco-Roman style, in which participants can use only their arms and upper bodies.

The sport faded from the Olympic scene four years later in Paris but re-emerged with a new look in 1904 in St. Louis. The freestyle version had become popular in Great Britain and the United States, known for its "catch as catch can" approach and popularity at fairs and festivals. Wrestlers were permitted to use legs for pushing, tripping and lifting, according to reports, and could hold opponents above or below the waist.

"(The) Olympic Games connect modern athletes with Antic Heroes. This competition is the priceless cultural heritage of our civilization like works of the famous ancient Greek philosophers and Acropolis." - Alexander Karelin, from his official Web site

Alexander Karelin

The imposing super heavyweight from Siberia occupies a special spot in international wrestling's Hall of Honors: three gold medals and one silver in four Olympics. Karelin scored a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the 1988 Seoul Games - trailing 3-0 in the final 30 seconds before a five-point reverse body lift - to win his first gold. He remained unbeaten through the next Olympics in Barcelona. Then came the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where Karelin outscored his five opponents 25-0 to become the first wrestler to win the same weight class three times. He nearly won a fourth in 2000, losing 1-0 to American Rulan Gardner to finish with the silver.

In 1997, he received the highest award from his country: the Golden Star, for heroic services to his homeland.

If there's a new look to the Games in 2004, it's the addition of women's freestyle wrestling. Women have wrestled at the national and World Championship levels for two decades but finally will share the Olympic spotlight in Athens.

The U.S. women's team recently received royal treatment, with an appearance on the Today show (featuring Sara McMann's double-leg takedown of Katie Couric), and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg honoring the competitors with a "Women's Freestyle Wrestling Week" in June.