Organiser defends wrestling test event for London Olympics

The main organiser of the wrestling competition at London Olympics has defended the staging of a test event ahead of next year's summer games in the British capital. Daniel Robin, a winner of two previous silver medals for France, said the event held over the weekend at the ExCel Centre was to test the field of play and the technology. “It does not have the ambience of an international competition. It is not even a world championship, not a European championship not an Asian championship,” he said. “It should not be expected to have to same level of preparation for an international event as the summer games,” he told IRNA in an interview. The former French medal winner said that he was surprised to hear criticism about the way the test event was staged late on the wrestling season, with some suggesting that it was because Britain was not good at wrestling. The ExCel Centre is holding seven sports during the Olympics, boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Fencing, Weightlifting and Table Tennis as well as Wrestling. Robin said that there was a “beautiful” set-up at the centre to give the opportunity of coaches, managers and participants the opportunity to test the facilities. “It will be an exciting place, maybe the warmest of all the Olympics events,” he said, pointing out that there were only around 500 spectators attending the tests compare with a capacity of 8,000 during the games. In his interview, Robin also praised the Iranian wrestling team, which brought one of the biggest delegations to the test event. “They are very bad, very bad news for the others because they are very good, one of the biggest countries in the world for wrestling,” he said, suggesting that they would be excellent ambassadors for Iran. The test event for wrestling was the last to be staged this year as Britain continues to prepare for the games for the first time since 1948. Wrestling at London 2012 will pit competitors against each other in head-to-head displays of power, technique and sheer strength in the two disciplines of Greco-Roman and Freestyle. The sport is recognised as one of the oldest in the world, with wrestling being first held at the ancient Olympics in 708 BC, and included at the Athens 1896 Games, the first of the modern era.