The 2026 World Wrestling Championships are due to begin today in the Kazakh capital of Astana.
The international competition, organised by United World Wrestling (UWW) will take place in the Barys Arena over the following nine days, with the final medals decided on 1 November.
A total of 120 medals will be awarded to those of the 320 wrestlers excelling in their categories, either Greco-Roman or freestyle, with ten weight classes in each discipline for both men and women.
This will be the first time that Kazakhstan has hosted the event since 2019, and the Central Asian country has high hopes of a respectable haul of medals, not least because of their impressive track record in wrestling itself, but a notable improvement in sporting performance across the board in recent years.
Interestingly, Astana was not originally selected to stage this year’s event. The sport’s governing body had chosen Bahrain as the host nation but given the current reality of international travel and additional geopolitical challenges, the UWW Executive Board discussed the tournament with the Bahrain Wrestling Federation and together they took the decision to move the championship to Kazakhstan.
Heading to the capital will be a strong international contingent featuring several Olympic champions, not to mention Saori Yoshida from Japan who has won 13 gold medals in UWW World Championships. In men’s freestyle, Valentin Yordanov (Bulgaria) holds the record with ten titles, while in Greco-Roman, Aleksandr Karelin (Russia) holds the record with nine titles.
Hoping to stop them will be a Kazakh team including wrestlers across all ten weight categories. Their success will deliver yet more sporting glory to their country, but also serve as a fitting tribute to the memory of Kazhymukan Munaitpasov, a wrestler whose legacy still underpins the culture of combat sports in his country, 155 years after he was born.
Those wishing to watch the 2026 World Wrestling Championships have the following options:
