#WrestleZagreb

Wrestling Calendar 2025: World, continental championships live on UWW+

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 - 10:09 By United World Wrestling Press

Share this article

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 7) -- The 2025 wrestling season for United World Wrestling will kick off with the 1st Ranking Series event -- Zagreb Open -- in Croatia. The event will be the first of the four Ranking Series scheduled this year.

The season-opening Zagreb Open will be held from February 5 to 9 at the Arena Zagreb, the venue for the senior World Championships later in September. The second stop of the Ranking Series will be in Tirana, Albania. The Muhamet Malo tournament will be held from February 26 to March 2.

The focus will shift to championships after the first two Ranking Series events and kicking off the continental tour will be Oceania Championships in Pago Pago, American Samoa from March 20 to 22. The Asian Championships will be held in Amman, Jordan from March 25 to 30.

April will see the European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia from April 7 to 13 before the tour continues for African Championships in Casablanca, Morocco from April 29 to May 4. Pan-American Championships will be held in Monterrey, Mexico from May 8 to 11, marking and end of the senior continental championships.

The Ranking Series will return in May, with Mongolia as the third stop. The Ulaanbaatar Open will be held from May 29 to June 1 in the Mongolian capital. The final stop will be the prestigious Polyák Imre, Varga János & Kozma István Memorial tournament from July 17 to 20. As is the norm, it will be held in Budapest, Hungary.

The World Championships calendar will begin with the U17 World Championships in Athens, Greece from July 28 to August 3. The championships is returning to Greece after seven years. Close to a month later, the U20 World Championships will be held in Sofia, Bulgaria from August 18 to 24. The same tournament was held in Sofia in 2022.

The mega event for 2025 -- World Championships -- will be held in Zagreb from September 13 to 21 at the Zagreb Arena in the capital city of Croatia. This is the first time that Croatia will be hosting the big event.

Budapest, Hungary will host the Veteran World Championships from October 7 to 12 and the season's final World Championships will be the U23, to be held in Novi Sad, Serbia from October 20 to 26.

Apart from these events, the UWW calendar will see the age-group continental championships, beach wrestling events and numerous other international tournaments throughout 2025.

All Ranking Series, continental championships and World Championships will be live and exclusive on UWW+.

For a detailed calendar, visit uww.org/events

#GrecoRoman

'Thank you, wrestling': Tokyo Olympic medalist Elsayed, 27, retires

Monday, July 14, 2025 - 10:34 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

EGYPT (July 14) -- Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Mohamed ELSAYED (EGY) has announced his retirement from wrestling, concluding a distinguished career that included two Olympic appearances and two world U23 gold medals.

Elsayed posted on Instagram about his struggles with injuries and shared that the decision to retire was the "most difficult" for the 27-year-old wrestler.

"After many years of hard work, challenges, and victories [and] after I honored my country and raised its flag in internationally, and was able to achieve my dream and win an Olympic medal in Greco-Roman wrestling, I have reached the most difficult decision in my sports career.  I have decided to officially announce my retirement," Elsayed wrote in an emotional post.

Having won five gold medals at the African Championships, Elsayed was a trailblazer in Greco-Roman and was Egypt's new-found hope for the Olympics. He did not disappoint in Tokyo, where he had a surprising run to the semifinal, which he lost to Parviz NASIBOV (UKR), 7-6.

He bounced back in the bronze-medal bout and defeated Artem SURKOV (ROC), 1-1 to capture bronze, Egypt's first medal since 2012 London Olympics and only the third since 1960.

"Wrestling has always been more than just a sport to me," he wrote. "It was my life, my passion, and my support in the most difficult times. I thank God for every moment I lived on the mat and every moment of pride, and every encouragement I heard from my family, fans, and country."

One of the biggest achievements of Elsayed, apart from the Olympic medal, was winning successive world U23 gold medals in 2018 and 2019 at 67kg.

Elsayed expressed gratitude to various individuals who supported him throughout the journey including coaches and trainers. He also thanked wrestling.

"I thank every coach who helped me, every colleague who stood by me, and everyone who supported me with a kind word or a prayer from the heart. Thank you to everyone who was part of the journey.

"Thank you to wrestling, which taught me to be a man before being a champion."