Female Wrestlers Test Olympic Mats -- Photodesk

(ATR) Fifty wrestlers from eight countries competed in Rio de Janeiro in a test event for wrestling.

Competition was held on Jan. 30-31 at Carioca Arena 1 in the Olympic Park. Although not the venue that will house the sport during the Games, athletes and officials were pleased with the takeaways from the two-day event.

The 2016 Games will be the first Olympics under wrestling's revised rules after the federation was dropped from the Olympic program, briefly, in 2013. Part of the rule change was to introduce more weight classes for women, to promote equal participation in the sport.

"The people are very nice and very excited... they are here trying to help us and being flexible," Adeline Gray, a world champion wrestler from the United States said of the organization. "This is a different scene for us, the seats are really pretty with all the different colors and everything. I like the set-up and the mats, and all the volunteers are doing a really great job."

Gray’s teammate Alyssa Lampe said the test event was a confidence booster to the upcoming Olympic qualifying. "I really like it. It is great to have a test event to see a dry run before having the Olympics," Lampe said.

Brazilian wrestler Aline Silva told reporters that the event results were not that important, but getting a glimpse of the sporting legacy the country will receive was interesting.

"Volunteers have helped with the event, they will not let you get lost, make us feel first at the event, like you feel at the Games," Silva said. "You still see work everywhere, but I liked the place, I am happy to know that Brazil will have gyms and arenas of this quality."

Click here to view a gallery from the event.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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