Names like Steven Fraser, Mohammed Bana, Alexander Leipold and Youri Shakmuradov do not ring a bell to many people, but if you know just a little about wrestling, the bells start to ring. In the wrestling world these names are like coach icons as Sir Alex Ferguson, Michael Laudrup and Jose Mourinho in soccer. And it is coaches of this calibre who are going to train the young wrestlers at the Youth Camp during the WWC 2009.

The Youth Camp is a training camp for young wrestlers from all over the world. In the morning they can train and in the afternoon they can watch their heroes fighting for the WWC medals.

The Danish Chief of Sports Eric Nyblom says: “It is great that the Organizing Committee has gotten these coaches to come and train at the Youth Camp during the WWC. It is setting a new standard, which has not been seen before at a World Championship. I think it is a scoop for the Organizing Committee that they have succeed. For the young athletes and their coaches it will be an experience for life. Many of them admire these wrestling icons immensely and see them as inspiring coaches. Remember that these coaches come from some of the best wrestling nations in the world and therefore we know that their training methods work. For me personally, I am looking forward to seeing Steven Fraser (national coach for USA) showing the young people how he is training his wrestlers”.

Mads Bang Aaen who is head of press and marketing at the WWC says: ”We are very happy that we have managed to get these stars to come and coach at the Youth Camp. We have worked hard to make the WWC more than “just” a WWC. Getting these coaches to come at the Youth Camp is important for our efforts to make the project special. In the planning of the WWC we have worked hard to implement different other projects to make the WWC more exciting and attractive. Personally I am looking very much forward to seeing the Iranian and the American national coaches lead the training together in the weekend during the WWC. As we saw on our trip to Iran earlier this year, it is unique how sport can make friendship across cultural diversities and political conviction.

See the video about the Youth Camp www.wwc2009.dk.

For further information and comments please contact Mr. Mads Bang Aaen at +45 28 97 78 42

Facts about the coaches
In the Greco-Roman style it will be the Olympic Gold medal winner from 1984 and American National Coach, Steven Fraser, who in 2007 led the American National Team to the top at the WWC in Baku in Azerbaijan. And the Iranian National Coach, Mohammad Bana, who have led the Iranian wrestlers to victory at big international championships several times.

In Freestyle it will be the German wrestler, Alexander Leipold, and the Russian wrestler, Youri Shakmuradov, who will be leading the training; both are former WWC and EC gold medallists and have fought at the Olympic Games.

In Freestyle for women the coaches will be the WWC bronze medallist from Japan, Sakae Kazuhito, and Jan Godlewski from Poland.

The Danish Year of Sport 2009
2009 has been officially appointed as the Danish Year of Sport 2009. More than 50 international sports events and congresses are scheduled all over the country with the IOC Session and Congress in October in Copenhagen in the absolute first league. Together all the events will brand Denmark both nationally and globally as a strong sports event nation under the motto of “Inviting the World of Sport”. Please find the entire event calendar at www.sporteventdenmark.com.

Earlier in the year The Danish National Wrestling team visited Iran and Egypt in order to compete, train – and make friends with the Iranian wrestling elite. The trip was funded by the Danish Year of Sport 2009.

For information about the Year of Sport and the many events during the year please contact Project Manager Christian Ankerstjerne, ca@sporteventdenmark.com or +45 3051 0096.

For more information please visit www.sporteventdenmark.com.