Wrestling

One of the oldest sports in the history, Wrestling is also one of the few sports that have had the honour of being part of the ancient as well as modern Olympics. While wrestling is believed to be a part of the ancient Olympics in 700 BC, it (Greco-Roman) made its debut in the 1896 Athens Games and has been one of the most highly awaited sporting competitions. Though it was not included in the 1900 Paris Games, Greco-Roman Wrestling has been a part of all the Olympic Games that have followed. On the other hand, Freestyle Wrestling made its debut in the 1904 St Louis Games and has been a regular feature-except for in 1912-since then. Though the events have been changed and have evolved over the years, the sport continues to be a favourite in the Olympics. In Greco-Roman Wrestling, it's Soviet Union that leads with 34 gold medals and overall 60 medals; Sweden and Finland are second and third with 20 and 18 gold medals respectively. However, in terms of total medals tally, Final is second and Sweden is third with 58 and 56 medals respectively. In Freestyle Wrestling, United States of America leads with 46 gold medals and 108 overall medals to their credit; Soviet Union and Turkey are second and third with 28 and 19 gold medals respectively. Even in terms of overall medals, Soviet Union is second with 56 medals to their credit, whereas Turkey is third with 41 medals. If medals tally from both the forms of Wrestling is considered, Soviet Union leads with total 62 gold medals, whereas United States of America is second with 49 gold medals, though the latter has won 122 total medals as compared to former's 116. In the 2012 London Games, 344 wrestlers, 266 men and 72 women, will fight it out for the gold. The competition will be held at Excel Arena from 5th to 12th August. Below is a list of gold medals won in events that will be present in the 2012 London Games. Medals' list for the events that have been discontinued have not been shown.