SHORT HISTORY WOMEN WRESTLING

In the overall history of wrestling, the development of women’s wrestling has been
dramatic. In roughly one generation, we have come from having the novelty of seeing a
very few young girls competing in age-group or high school events, to women competing
for Olympic medals. During this same time there have been changes in the views of the
scientific and medical fields regarding women and their athletic capabilities. I t was only
in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games that women were allowed to run in events
longer than 1,500 meters, with the addition of the 3,000 meters and the marathon. With
the growth of women’s sports, we are finding that there are more similarities in sports
training and performance of men and women, than there are differences.
Participation data from the National Federation of High School Associations list the first
girls in their survey results for the 1979-80 school-year. These numbers have steadily
grown to just over 4,000 for the 2003-04 school year and accounts for 1.7% of the total
participants.
Data from USA Wrestling shows a similar pattern. Membership totals, separated by
gender, are available beginning in 1995, and lists 1,525 girls and women. This had
grown to 3,442 in 2004, out of a total of 135,519. California and Kansas have the most
female competitors with 677 and 373, respectively.
Internationally, the roots of women’s wrestling are in France. Following the
establishment of female wrestling clubs and hosting a first national championship in
1973, female wrestling was adopted by the French Wrestling Federation in 1977. They
led the lobbying to establish women’s wrestling within FILA, the international governing
body of wrestling, which was accomplished in 1982. The first world championships
were held in 1987, with France the team champions. While the USA was represented
with competitors since this first world championship, USA Wrestling did not hold their
first national championships for women until 1990. The USA won the world team
championship in 1999. Last fall in Athens we were all proud to watch Patricia Miranda
and Sara McMann win the first Olympic medals for the USA in women’s wrestling.
My earliest contact with women competing in wrestling came in the early 70’s, when as a
college student, along with several teammates, I helped to coach the Ann Arbor
Wrestling Warriors. I’ll never forget Tricia McNaughton (now Saunders) and her long
pony-tail, as she and her brother trained and successfully competed. Tricia won four
world championships in her storied career. (Zeke Jones also had his start with this club at
the same time. There aren’t very many kids clubs that can boast two world champions!)
In the USA, the development of female wrestlers is associated with boy’s programs.
Because of this, there is competition between the sexes, and the concerns for safety and
equity, not to mention social, psychological and cultural issues. This is not always the
case in other countries. I was in Beijing last summer at a regional sports school for
students between the ages of 17-22. There was a training hall with 75 boys and coaches,
and next to this gym was another with 75 girls and coaches training their freestyle.
Developmentally, there are not many concerns with competition between the sexes prior
to male puberty. At any given chronological age, girls are farther along in their
development than boys. Growth curves are more or less parallel until about 9 to 12 years
of age, and during this time the body mass of girls is the same or slightly greater than the
boys. Height is similar, but usually differences of 1-2 kg in the strength of various
muscle groups favor boys. At about 11 years of age, girls have their adolescent growth
spurt, and surge ahead of boys in height and weight. Boys will begin their growth spurt
at around 13 years of age. It is at this point that the differences between relative amounts
of bone, muscle and fat become most apparent. Increased levels of testosterone in males
will cause greater muscularity and skeletal size, while increased levels of estrogenic
hormones result in greater body fat deposits in women. These body fat differences are
roughly 8-10% higher in women, but often lower when comparing male and female
athletes. The amount of “sex-specific” fat that women must have above and beyond the
level for good health in men has not been firmly established. It is thought to be around
5%. On the average, males have a greater proportion of this subcutaneous fat in the
upper body and abdominal region, whereas women will carry more of their fat on their
hips and thighs. This also contributes to the center of gravity being lower in women.
The center of gravity is where the mass of the body is balanced in all thee planes. A low
center of gravity is associated with greater stability.
Some of the most important differences are seen in the cardiovascular and muscular
systems. Women have a lower blood volume with fewer red blood cells (6% fewer) and
less hemoglobin (15% less) which results in less oxygen carrying capacity. Because they
also have typically smaller hearts, this will result in a higher training heart rate for a
given load when compared to men. The ability to deliver oxygen to the exercising
muscles is about 20-25% less than in men. Women will have a smaller muscle mass and
on average be 40-60% weaker in the upper body and 25% weaker in lower body strength.
Notice that I said “on average” in the preceding sentence. There are some women who
are stronger than some men. What is the effect of cultural or sociological expectations on
getting the “true” physiological comparison? I like to look at comparisons of elite
athletes, because these people are not bound by any social limitations. Their only focus
is on doing their best. When I look at the world records in the running events in track
from 100 meters to the marathon, women average about 90% of the men’s performance.
A look at swimming world records gave strikingly similar results, with women at 91% of
the men’s performance. A look at Olympic weightlifting shows women at about 77% of
men’s performance, but still closer than the differences cited in some physiology texts.
Dr. Harold Tunnemann of Germany has studied the sport-specific strength of some world
champion women and was astonished to find a champion at 55 kg who exceeded the
men’s national team average force on their gut wrench machine.
When I speak to coaches and wrestlers about differences between wrestling for men and
women, the list is not very long. Amy Borgnini and Mary Kelly, both nationally ranked
wrestlers in the USOEC resident program at Northern Michigan University, cite strength
levels as the biggest difference. I mentioned the concern that I have for young boys when
they lose to a girl. Kelly stated, “I’ve beaten a lot of boys, and I’ve never noticed this
having any long-term psychological effects on them. They didn’t quit the sport or
anything.”
It is important to educate all female wrestlers, their parents, and coaches about the
potential health consequences of inadequate energy intake and high levels of exercise.
The female athlete triad is a syndrome occurring in physically active girls and women.
The interrelated components are disordered eating, amenorrhea (disruption in menstrual
cycles), and osteoporosis. Pressure placed on young women to achieve or maintain
unrealistically low body weight underlies development of the triad. Adolescents and
women training in sports in which low body weight is emphasized for athletic activity or
appearance are at greatest risk.
Disordered eating refers to a wide range of harmful eating behaviors used in attempts to
lose weight or achieve a lean appearance. These behaviors range from food restriction to
binging and purging, to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Amenorrhea can be the
absence of menstruation by age 16 (primary), or an absence of 3 or more menstrual
cycles in a previously menstruating female (secondary or athletic amenorrhea). In some
cases, the decrease in estrogen production can lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures.
All of our wrestlers must be educated about proper nutrition and safe training practices.
However, our women wrestlers must be educated about the warning signs of the triad.
They should also be referred for medical evaluation at the first sign of any of the
components of the triad.
The growth of women’s wrestling faces more challenges. In the US, we have to find a
way to create more opportunities for women to wrestle women during the scholastic
years. World-wide, there are over 80 countries with women’s programs, but some of the
most fundamentalist Islamic countries (Iran and Saudi Arabia) do not allow international
competition. Last month, while at an international tournament in Morocco, I spoke to the
women wrestlers. These Muslim women said that their society sees no conflict between
sport participation and their religion. They train with the men, and they often wrestle
with the men. When asked when they foresee women from Iran and Saudi Arabia in
tournaments, they all answered, “Never!” I think it will be sooner.
I see a wonderful future for women’s wrestling. It is a great opportunity to get more
people involved in our great sport. There is also a large amount of research to be done in
this relatively new area of women’s wrestling.