Obituary

Turkish Wrestling Great Kazim Ayvaz Passes Away

By United World Wrestling Press

Turkish Greco-Roman wrestling great Kazim AYVAZ, an Olympic champion and multiple-time world champion, passed away last Sunday at the age of 83. 

Ayvaz competed in three consecutive Olympics from 1960 to 1968. In 1964, Ayvaz captured a gold medal in Greco-Roman at the Tokyo Olympics in the lightweight category. In addition, he won world titles in 1958 and 1962. 

Ayvaz was born in Rize, Turkey, in 1937. His wrestling career started in 1953 at the age of 15. After his competitive wrestling career, Ayvaz spent time training Turkish wrestlers before moving to Sweden. 
 

Batumi to host 2027 U23 Euros; 2026 Pan-Am calendar updated

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 29) -- United World Wrestling has announced updates for its events calendar for both 2026 and 2027.

For 2027, Batumi, Georgia will host the U23 European Championships from March 8 to 14. With this, Georgia, a top wrestling country, marks a return to the UWW's events calendar after six years having hosted the 2019 Veteran World Championships.

The 2026 U15 Pan-American Championships were awarded to Mexico City, Mexico and the tournament will be from July 23 to 25. The U15 Pan-American Beach Wrestling Championships will also be conducted in Mexico City. The same will be held on July 26.

UWW also decided to shift the 2026 U23 Pan-American Championships to Lima, Peru from Caracas, Venezuela. The competition will be held June 11-13 in the Peruvian capital with competition being held over three days, with medal bouts of respective styles to be completed on the same day.

The Senior Beach Wrestling Pan-American Championships will also be held in Lima, Peru on June 14.

Updated 2026 Pan-American Championships calendar:

- U17 Pam-American Championships, April 2-4 (Panama City, Panama)
- Senior Pan-American Championships, May 7-10 (Coralville, United States)
- U23 Pan-American Championships, June 11-13 (Lima, Peru)
- U20 Pan-American Championships, July 9-11 (Niteroi, Brazil)
- U15 Pan-American Championships, July 23-25 (Mexico City, Mexico)

Updated 2026 Pan-Am Beach Wrestling Championships Calendar:

- U17 Beach Wrestling Pan-American Championships, April 5, (Panama City, Panama)
- Senior Beach Wrestling Pan-American Championships, June 14 (Lima, Peru)
- U20 Beach Wrestling Pan-American Championships, July 12 (Niteroi, Brazil)
- U15 Beach Wrestling Pan-American Championships, July 26 (Mexico City, Mexico)

UWW remains at the disposal of all National Federations for any query. For all events, refer to uww.org/events.