2017 UWW Senior World ChampionshipsAug 30, 2017 by Andrew Spey
By The Numbers: America's Historic World Championship
By The Numbers: America's Historic World Championship
Team USA won the men's freestyle world wrestling championships in Paris last week. We put their historic achievement in context.
The United States senior men's freestyle wrestling team is champion of the world and will remain champion until at least October 2018, when it will attempt to repeat its historic achievement.
Last week's UWW World Championships in Paris was one American fans will not soon forget. Team USA won six medals, two of each color. That's the largest medal haul for the men's freestyle team since 1995, when the U.S. won four golds and two bronze. There were 10 weights in 1995, as opposed to just eight in Paris, although this year's team did benefit from the double-bronze system.
The table below shows the different medals won by the USA's senior men's freestyle team since 1995. Note that it includes Olympic tournaments and the non-Olympic championships in 2016 for 61kg and 70kg.
The 1995 World Championships was also the last year the United States won a freestyle team title. The Americans' last championship in any style was by the U.S. Greco-Roman team in 2007.
The United States' freestyle win comes at a time when Russia has dominated most competitions. America's average team finish from 2004 to 2016 has been 5.7. During that same time frame, Russia's average team placement has been 1.2. Iran, the next closest rival to Russia, has average a team finish of 3.9.
Below is a table with the USA's, Russia's, and Iran's team placement from 2004 to 2017. Please note that official scores are not kept during the Olympics, and we added the non-Olympic championships to those unofficial scores.
The U.S. did not place in the top 10 in 2010, and Iran did not place in the top 10 in 2008.
To further place the American freestylers' win into context, we can look at the team scores for every top 10 team between 2004 and 2017. UWW calculates team scores by awarded points per finish on a 10, 9, 8, 8, 6, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 scale. USA edged Russia by a single team point this year.
The 54 points scored by the USA in Paris are the most in recent memory. Russia also did not have much of a down year either when compared to its scores in the past. The Russians' 53 points are the highest second-place total going as far back as 2004 and would be good enough to win any other tournament -- absent Russia's own scores -- in that time frame as well.
And in case you were wondering, the 68 team points Russia scored in 2007 is a record. Seventy was the maximum number of points you could score in 2007, which would be seven gold medals in seven weight classes. Russia won six golds and one bronze. Not too shabby.
Next year there will be a new point system, new weights, and new rosters from Russia and Iran (and Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and Turkey, etc). Team USA will have a dogfight on its hands, but it will be in as good a position to repeat as champ since the mid-1990s.
Last week's UWW World Championships in Paris was one American fans will not soon forget. Team USA won six medals, two of each color. That's the largest medal haul for the men's freestyle team since 1995, when the U.S. won four golds and two bronze. There were 10 weights in 1995, as opposed to just eight in Paris, although this year's team did benefit from the double-bronze system.
The table below shows the different medals won by the USA's senior men's freestyle team since 1995. Note that it includes Olympic tournaments and the non-Olympic championships in 2016 for 61kg and 70kg.
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 2016 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2015 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2014 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2013 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2012 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2011 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2008 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2007 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2006 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2005 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2004 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 2003 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2001 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2000 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 1999 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 1998 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1997 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 1996 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 1995 | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
| 1994 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The 1995 World Championships was also the last year the United States won a freestyle team title. The Americans' last championship in any style was by the U.S. Greco-Roman team in 2007.
The United States' freestyle win comes at a time when Russia has dominated most competitions. America's average team finish from 2004 to 2016 has been 5.7. During that same time frame, Russia's average team placement has been 1.2. Iran, the next closest rival to Russia, has average a team finish of 3.9.
Below is a table with the USA's, Russia's, and Iran's team placement from 2004 to 2017. Please note that official scores are not kept during the Olympics, and we added the non-Olympic championships to those unofficial scores.
| United States | Russia | Iran | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| 2016 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| 2015 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
| 2014 | 9 | 1 | 2 |
| 2013 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 2012 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 2011 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2010 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2009 | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| 2008 | 9 | 1 | |
| 2007 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| 2006 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2005 | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| 2004 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
The U.S. did not place in the top 10 in 2010, and Iran did not place in the top 10 in 2008.
To further place the American freestylers' win into context, we can look at the team scores for every top 10 team between 2004 and 2017. UWW calculates team scores by awarded points per finish on a 10, 9, 8, 8, 6, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 scale. USA edged Russia by a single team point this year.
| 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | 53 | 49 | 61 | 62 | 44 | 40 | 43 | 66 | 63 | 59 | 68 | 51 | 54 | 53 |
| Iran | 16 | 49 | 48 | 45 | 46 | 38 | 41 | 27 | 40 | 19 | 44 | 22 | 32 | |
| United States | 54 | 46 | 29 | 20 | 25 | 38 | 38 | 19 | 18 | 32 | 35 | 20 | 46 | |
| Georgia | 40 | 34 | 44 | 23 | 29 | 42 | 34 | 21 | 14 | 29 | 32 | 33 | ||
| Azerbaijan | 32 | 50 | 39 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 42 | 48 | 24 | 16 | ||||
| Cuba | 23 | 18 | 33 | 19 | 38 | 28 | 34 | 18 | 39 | 34 | ||||
| Ukraine | 20 | 20 | 27 | 18 | 23 | 32 | 28 | 33 | 27 | 26 | ||||
| Turkey | 39 | 27 | 33 | 33 | 18 | 13 | 27 | 21 | 40 | |||||
| Uzbekistan | 31 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 22 | ||||||
| Kazakhstan | 18 | 18 | 22 | 29 | 15 | 23 | 16 | 26 | ||||||
| Japan | 28 | 19 | 27 | 23 | 23 | |||||||||
| Mongolia | 41 | 29 | 19 | 12 | 18 | |||||||||
| Bulgaria | 23 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 22 | 26 | ||||||||
| Belarus | 28 | 22 | 21 | 23 | ||||||||||
| India | 14 | 23 | 18 | 14 | ||||||||||
| Hungary | 14 | 20 | ||||||||||||
| Armenia | 16 | 18 | ||||||||||||
| Greece | 21 | |||||||||||||
| South Korea | 19 | |||||||||||||
| Kyrgyzstan | 14 |
The 54 points scored by the USA in Paris are the most in recent memory. Russia also did not have much of a down year either when compared to its scores in the past. The Russians' 53 points are the highest second-place total going as far back as 2004 and would be good enough to win any other tournament -- absent Russia's own scores -- in that time frame as well.
And in case you were wondering, the 68 team points Russia scored in 2007 is a record. Seventy was the maximum number of points you could score in 2007, which would be seven gold medals in seven weight classes. Russia won six golds and one bronze. Not too shabby.
Next year there will be a new point system, new weights, and new rosters from Russia and Iran (and Azerbaijan, and Georgia, and Turkey, etc). Team USA will have a dogfight on its hands, but it will be in as good a position to repeat as champ since the mid-1990s.