Wrestling at the Summer Olympics
Wrestling had been contested at the Summer Olympic Games since the sport was introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC. When the modern Olympic Games resumed in Athens in 1896, wrestling (in the form of Greco-Roman wrestling) became a focus of the Games, with the exception of the 1900 Summer Olympics when wrestling did not appear on the program. Freestyle wrestling and weight classes both made their first appearance in 1904. The women's competition was introduced in 2004.
Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics
Greco-Roman reappeared for the first time since the 1896 Summer Olympics, with weight classes for the first time. The number of classes in freestyle was reduced from 7 to 5, with the light fly, fly, and welterweight classes dropped but the middleweight added. The addition of the 4 Greco-Roman classes brought the total number of events in wrestling up to 9.