#WrestleBelgrade

WATCH: 10 Greco-Roman finals from World Championships

By Vinay Siwach

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 27) -- The World Championships began with Greco-Roman at the Stark Arena in Belgrade. Host nation Serbia claimed four gold medals out of the 10 on offer. However, it finished third in the team rankings with Turkey, led by legend Riza KAYAALP (TUR), finishing first. Azerbaijan finished second, just seven points behind Turkey.

Apart from Serbia, Turkey and Kyrgyzstan won two gold medals each while two others were shared by Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Watch all the 10 Greco-Roman gold medal bouts from the World Championships.

GOLD: 55kg - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) vs. Nugzari TSURTSUMIA (GEO)

 

GOLD: 63kg - Leri ABULADZE (GEO) vs. Sebastian NAD (SRB)

 

GOLD: 67kg -  Mohammadreza GERAEI (IRI) vs. Mate NEMES (SRB)

 

GOLD: 72kg - Ali ARSALAN (SRB) vs. Ulvi GANIZADE (AZE)

 

GOLD: 97kg - Artur ALEKSANYAN (ARM) vs. Kiril MILOV (BUL)

 

GOLD: 130kg -  Amin MIRZAZADEH (IRI) vs. Riza KAYAALP (TUR)

#WrestleBelgrade

Explainer: How do wrestlers qualify for the Paris Olympic Games?

By Eric Olanowski

BELGRADE, Serbia (September 4) --- The path to Paris for 288 athletes will be a three stage process to determine who will wrestle for Olympic glory.

The first phase will take place in Belgrade, Serbia, at the 2023 World Championships, September 16-24th, where five quotas for the each of the 18 Olympic categories—a total of 90 quotas—will be allocated.

Wrestlers who earn a gold, silver or bronze will earn a bid. Additionally, the losers of the bronze-medal matches will wrestle in true fifth match, determining the fifth allocation in Belgrade.

Phase two is the continental qualification phase where 144 quotas handed out at the:
- Pan American Olympic Qualifier (Acapulco, Mexico, March 1-3)
- African Olympic Qualifier (Alexandria, Egypt, March 22-24)
- European Olympic Qualifier (Baku, Azerbaijan, April 4-7)
- Asian Olympic Qualifier (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, April 19-21)

The first and second place finishers at the Continental Olympic Qualifier earn an automatic bid to the Paris Olympics for their nation. 

The final stage for the Paris Olympic qualifying process comes down to Istanbul, Türkiye, for the Last Chance Qualifier, where the final 54 tickets will be booked. The gold and silver medalists and the winner of a true third match will punch their ticket to the Olympics.

Follow all the action from the World Championships, Continental Olympic Qualifiers and the Last Chance Qualifier, live on UWW+ or on, “The Home Of Wrestling,” UWW’s app.