UWW Live

UWW LIVE: Zhan Beleniuk: Two-Time World Champion

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 - 21:37 By United World Wrestling Press

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Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) is one of the world's most decorated Greco-Roman wrestlers. 

In 2019, Beleniuk captured his second world title with a victory over Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) in the gold-medal match at 87kg. It was his fourth world medal to go along with an Olympic silver medal he claimed at the 2016 Rio Games. 

Beleniuk joined Eric Olanowski to talk about his road to a winning pair of world titles, his aspirations of improving his Rio Olympic silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games and his role over the last year as a member of the Ukrainian Parliament.
 

2026 World Championships

Astana Announced as Replacement Host for 2026 World Championships

Friday, May 22, 2026 - 13:06 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 22) -- Astana, Kazakhstan will host the 2026 World Championships from October 24 to November 1.

United World Wrestling Bureau met on Friday and after careful consideration of the current geopolitical situation, particularly the ongoing uncertainty and impact on international travel, it decided to change the host for the 2026 World Championships.

Manama, Bahrain was scheduled to host the World Championships as it was awarded the tournament in Zagreb last year. UWW and Bahrain released a joint statement on Friday, announcing the postponement of the same.

After successful site visits and inspections, the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation was chosen as a replacement host and Barys Arena was selected as the venue.

World Championships 2026

The announcement marks the return of the World Championships to Astana, a city which successfully hosted the 2019 World Championships. Close to 1000 wrestlers participated in 2019 edition, making it one of the most attended tournaments.

As seen in 2019, full attendance is expected at the the Barys Arena for the nine-day event.

UWW remains committed to assisting National Federations and the schedule for the 2026 World Championships in Astana will be communicated soon. For details of events, visit uww.org/events.