#wrestlemanama

World C'ships 2026 to be held in October; U20 Worlds in Bratislava

Monday, December 8, 2025 - 07:56 By United World Wrestling Press

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 8) -- United World Wrestling has officially confirmed the host city for the 2026 U20 World Championships and finalized the competition dates for the 2026 Senior World Championships.

In addition, the host for 2026 Asian Championships has also been shifted from Amman, Jordan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Bratislava, Slovakia, has been selected to host the 2026 U20 World Championships. Bratislava had successfully hosted the 2025 European Championships in April with sellout stadium. The U20 World Championships in 2026 are scheduled to take place from August 17 to 23 and a similar crowd is expected for the competition.

UWW also confirmed the competition window for the 2026 Senior World Championships to be hosted in Manama, Bahrain, which was announced as hosts during a ceremony held in Zagreb in September.

The World Championships are set to run from October 24 to November 1, providing nine days of action featuring the world’s top wrestlers.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Nenad LALOVIC had said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision."

The Asian Championships, originally scheduled in Amman will now be hosted by Bishkek from April 6 to 12.

The 2026 U15 & U20 Asian Championships have been moved from Bangkok to Pattaya.

The U17, U20 and senior African Championships will be held in Alexandria, Egypt from April 28 to May 3. In addition, the dates for the 2026 Pan-American Championships were also modified. The competition will now be held from May 7 to 10 in Coralville, Iowa, United States.

For the full 2026 calendar, visit uww.org/events.

#development

Four Coaches Graduate in Hungary Under Olympic Solidarity Programme

Monday, June 1, 2026 - 15:57 By United World Wrestling Press

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (June 1) -- Four wrestling coaches graduate from the University of Sport Science in Budapest and enrolled in the first-ever wrestling mentorship programme at KIMBA in collaboration with the Hungarian Wrestling Federation.

Carlos BARAHONA (ESA), Gilbert KABOCHE (KEN), Anuja MALLAWAAARACHCHI (SRI) and Raphael MULENGA (ZAM) gathered in Hungary for the Olympic Solidarity Coaches Scholarship Programme, focused on strengthening wrestling through education, mentorship, and scientific coaching methods.

The programme introduced a new mentorship initiative for scholarship participants and emphasized the importance of scientific coaching methods, youth development, and structured education systems. Organizers highlighted that coaches are central to building sustainable wrestling cultures in their countries.

A key programme that the coaches will be using, when they return to their countries, will be the UWW Academy’s “Wrestle4Fun," an initiative that provides accessible training resources for PE teachers and beginner coaches, including activities that require little or no equipment.

HungaryFrom left to right: Gabor FARKAS (HUN), Zach ERRETT, Deqa NIAMKEY, Tamas STERBENZ (HUN), Peter BACSA and Gergely BABSZKY (HUN).

UWW Development Director Deqa NIAMKEY and Education Manager Zach ERRETT met with the rector of the University of Sport Science of Budapest, Professor Dr. Tamás STERBENZ along with UWW Bureau Member Peter BACSA, Gabor FARKAS and Gergely BABSZKY, Hungary National Coaches and professors at the University in charge of the wrestling programme.

The discussion focused on the expansion of partnerships in sports science and wrestling education. The message from discussions showed that the future growth of wrestling depends on education, grassroots participation, scientific coaching, and international cooperation.

Following the meeting, the UWW Development Department agreed to continue the programme and to share the next intakes which will provide further educational opportunities for UWW community worldwide.

UWW thanks Olympic Solidarity for their unwavering support to the development of wrestling worldwide.