Wrestling in Greece: from ancient Olympia to the modern mat

Ancient Greece: wrestling as education

In ancient Greece wrestling was not merely a sport — it was part of every free citizen’s education. The word palaestra (the wrestling ground) became a synonym for the gymnasium. Wrestling was added to the Olympic Games in 708 BC, at the 18th Olympiad, as the second event after the footrace, and formed part of the pentathlon.

There were two basic forms:

• Upright wrestling — the winner was whoever threw the opponent three times (the “three falls”). A relative of today’s Greco-Roman style.
• Ground wrestling (alindisis) — continued on the ground until submission.

In 648 BC pankration was added: wrestling and striking together, decided only by submission or inability to continue. Milo of Croton (six Olympic wrestling victories in the 6th century BC) and Polydamas of Skotoussa (pankration) are the best-known names.

Roman and Byzantine periods

The Romans kept wrestling as spectacle and military training — hence the term “Greco-Roman”, although the modern style was codified in France in the 19th century. In Byzantium wrestling survived at folk festivals, and the traditional oil wrestling (yağlı güreş) still practised in Thrace shares the same roots.

1896: the return to Athens

At the first modern Olympics in Athens wrestling was one of nine sports, with a single category, no weight limits and no time limit. Germany’s Carl Schuhmann won; Greece’s Stefanos Christopoulos finished third. Greco-Roman has been a permanent Olympic sport ever since, and freestyle was added in 1904.

20th century: the Greco-Roman school

For decades wrestling in Greece was the sport of neighbourhood clubs and army units. The organised rise came in the 1980s with a stable federation and investment in Greco-Roman:

Athanasios Vangelakis, Panagiotis Chitaridis and Giannis Tsiagkalidis (European and Mediterranean medals) rounded out the golden generation. In freestyle Greece never reached an Olympic podium, but built a respectable women’s wrestling tradition in the 2010s.

Wrestling on TV and pro wrestling

Professional wrestling (scripted outcomes) arrived in Greece in the 1990s via television — first WCW, then WWE. The “Greek” promotions that followed were small: independent shows in Athens, Thessaloniki and Patras, often featuring diaspora Greeks who compete in Britain or Germany.

Today

• The Hellenic Wrestling Federation runs championships in Greco-Roman, men’s and women’s freestyle, and beach wrestling.
• The strongest clubs are in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, Kozani and Komotini.
• MMA has replaced pankration as the “complete fight” — and the wrestling audience is now the octagon’s audience too. See our guide to the rules of MMA.

Wrestling never became mass entertainment in Greece the way football or basketball did. But for almost three millennia it has remained the sport the country never stopped doing.