World Wrestling Championships facts for kids

Quick facts for kids World Wrestling Championships
Status	Active
Genre	Wrestling World Championship
Date(s)	September to October
Frequency	Annual
Location(s)	Various
Years active	Unofficially 1904–1920 Officially 1921–present
Inaugurated	1904 (1904)
Most recent	2024 Tirana
Previous event	2023 Belgrade
Next event	2025 Zagreb
Organised by	United World Wrestling

The World Wrestling Championships are big events where the best wrestlers from all over the world compete. There are different styles of wrestling, like Greco-Roman wrestling for men, which started in 1904. Freestyle wrestling for men began in 1951, and women's freestyle wrestling joined in 1987. These championships are organized by an international group called United World Wrestling (UWW).

Early Wrestling History

Before the official wrestling organization, United World Wrestling (UWW), was created in 1921, many World Greco-Roman Championships were held. The UWW considers these early competitions "unofficial." They took place in different cities, mostly in Europe, starting in 1904.

Championship Styles

The World Wrestling Championships feature three main styles:

• Men's Freestyle: This style allows wrestlers to use their legs to attack and defend. They can also use their arms and upper body.
• Men's Greco-Roman: In this style, wrestlers can only use their arms and upper body. They are not allowed to grab opponents below the waist.
• Women's Freestyle: Similar to men's freestyle, this style allows women wrestlers to use both their upper body and legs.

Recent Championships (2005-2024)

Since 2005, all three wrestling styles have usually competed at the same World Championships. This brings together all the top wrestlers in one big event.

Year	Dates	City and host country	Team champion
			Men's freestyle	Men's Greco-Roman	Women's freestyle
2005	26 September – 2 October	Budapest, Hungary	Russia	Hungary	Japan
2006	25 September – 1 October	Guangzhou, China	Russia	Turkey	Japan
2007	17–23 September	Baku, Azerbaijan	Russia	United States	Japan
2008	11–13 October	Tokyo, Japan	not held	not held	Japan
2009	21–27 September	Herning, Denmark	Russia	Turkey	Azerbaijan
2010	6–12 September	Moscow, Russia	Russia	Russia	Japan
2011	12–18 September	Istanbul, Turkey	Russia	Russia	Japan
2012	27–29 September	Strathcona County, Canada	not held	not held	China
2013	16–22 September	Budapest, Hungary	Iran	Russia	Japan
2014	8–14 September	Tashkent, Uzbekistan	Russia	Iran	Japan
2015	7–15 September	Las Vegas, United States	Russia	Russia	Japan
2016	10–11 December	Budapest, Hungary	not awarded	not awarded	not awarded
2017	21–26 August	Paris, France	United States	Russia	Japan
2018	20–28 October	Budapest, Hungary	Russia	Russia	Japan
2019	14–22 September	Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan	Russia	Russia	Japan
2021	2–10 October	Oslo, Norway	Russian Wrestling Federation	Russian Wrestling Federation	Japan
2022	10–18 September	Belgrade, Serbia	United States	Turkey	Japan
2023	16–24 September	Belgrade, Serbia	United States	Azerbaijan	Japan
2024	28–31 October	Tirana, Albania	Georgia	Azerbaijan	Japan
2025	13–21 September	Zagreb, Croatia

Top Countries in Wrestling

The "All-time medal table" shows which countries have won the most medals (gold, silver, and bronze) at the World Wrestling Championships. This table includes medals from both official and unofficial championships.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Soviet Union	253	93	69	415
2	Japan	139	75	88	302
3	Russia	111	67	96	274
4	United States	86	105	113	304
5	Iran	71	67	80	218
6	Bulgaria	63	95	103	261
7	Turkey	60	63	84	207
8	Hungary	33	54	53	140
9	Cuba	32	28	49	109
10	Sweden	31	40	48	119
11	China	29	22	39	90
12	France	27	23	25	75
13	Azerbaijan	22	34	39	95
14	Germany	22	28	48	98
15	Finland	22	26	25	73
16	Ukraine	19	21	61	101
17	Georgia	17	21	44	82
18	Poland	15	38	39	92
19	Romania	15	33	38	86
20	South Korea	14	23	25	62
21	Canada	14	18	32	64
22	Armenia	14	10	22	46
23	Norway	12	17	29	58
24	Austria	11	9	8	28
25	North Korea	10	5	10	25
26	West Germany	9	13	19	41
27	East Germany	8	23	23	54
28	Kyrgyzstan	8	5	13	26
29	Serbia	8	1	12	21
30	Mongolia	7	28	44	79
31	Kazakhstan	7	21	35	63
32	Belarus	6	17	27	50
33	Uzbekistan	6	11	22	39
34	Yugoslavia	5	19	17	41
35	Denmark	5	8	10	23
36	Moldova	4	8	4	16
37	Russian Wrestling Federation	4	5	9	18
38	Italy	3	8	12	23
39	Czechoslovakia	3	6	11	20
40	Venezuela	3	4	5	12
41	Egypt	3	3	6	12
–	Individual Neutral Athletes	3	3	6	12
42	Estonia	2	3	5	10
43	India	1	5	17	23
44	Chinese Taipei	1	5	6	12
45	Greece	1	3	12	16
46	Israel	1	1	4	6
47	Bahrain	1	1	0	2
48	Albania	1	0	2	3
49	Belgium	1	0	1	2
50	Slovakia	0	4	5	9
51	Czech Republic	0	2	5	7
52	Puerto Rico	0	2	1	3
53	Nigeria	0	1	5	6
54	Lithuania	0	1	4	5
55	Latvia	0	1	3	4
	Netherlands	0	1	3	4
57	Croatia	0	1	2	3
58	Lebanon	0	1	1	2
	North Macedonia	0	1	1	2
	Tajikistan	0	1	1	2
61	Brazil	0	1	0	1
	Tunisia	0	1	0	1
	Turkmenistan	0	1	0	1
64	Spain	0	0	3	3
	Switzerland	0	0	3	3
66	Bohemia	0	0	2	2
	Colombia	0	0	2	2
	Pakistan	0	0	2	2
69	Argentina	0	0	1	1
	Chile	0	0	1	1
	Ecuador	0	0	1	1
	Great Britain	0	0	1	1
	San Marino	0	0	1	1
	Syria	0	0	1	1
	United World Wrestling	0	0	1	1
Totals (75 entries)		1,243	1,235	1,639	4,117

• Countries shown in italics no longer exist as they did when they won medals.

Team Titles by Country

This table shows which countries have won the most team championships in each wrestling style. A team title means that the wrestlers from that country earned the most points overall in their style.

Country	FS	GR	FW	Total
Soviet Union	22	26	0	48
Russia	13	14	2	29
Japan	0	0	27	27
Turkey	5	3	0	8
United States	5	1	1	7
Iran	5	1	0	6
Azerbaijan	0	2	1	3
Georgia	2	1	0	3
China	0	0	2	2
Russian Wrestling Federation	1	1	0	2
Bulgaria	0	1	0	1
Cuba	0	1	0	1
Hungary	0	1	0	1
Norway	0	0	1	1
Sweden	0	1	0	1

Wrestlers with Many Gold Medals

Some wrestlers have won many gold medals at the World Championships. Here are some of the most successful athletes who have won at least 5 gold medals. The names in bold are wrestlers who are still competing.

Top Men's Freestyle Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Country	Weights	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Valentin Yordanov	Bulgaria	52 kg	1983	1995	7	2	1	10
2	Aleksandr Medved	Soviet Union	+87 kg / 97 kg / +97 kg / +100 kg	1961	1971	7	1	1	9
3	Sergei Beloglazov	Soviet Union	57 kg / 62 kg	1979	1987	6	1	–	7
	Arsen Fadzaev	Soviet Union	68 kg / 74 kg	1983	1991	6	1	–	7
	Abdulrashid Sadulaev	Russia  Russian Wrestling Federation Individual Neutral Athletes	86 kg / 97 kg / 92 kg	2014	2024	6	1	–	7
6	Jordan Burroughs	United States	74 kg / 79 kg	2011	2022	6	–	3	9
7	Buvaisar Saitiev	Russia	74 kg / 76 kg	1995	2005	6	–	–	6
8	Makharbek Khadartsev	Soviet Union  Russia	90 kg	1986	1995	5	2	1	8
9	Khadzhimurat Gatsalov	Russia	96 kg / 120 kg / 125 kg	2005	2014	5	1	1	7
10	Ali Aliev	Soviet Union	52 kg / 57 kg	1959	1967	5	1	–	6
11	Leri Khabelov	Soviet Union  Russia	100 kg / 130 kg	1985	1995	5	–	1	6
12	Abdollah Movahed	Iran	70 kg / 68 kg	1965	1970	5	–	–	5

Top Men's Greco-Roman Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Country	Weights	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Aleksandr Karelin	Soviet Union  Russia	130 kg	1989	1999	9	–	–	9
2	Hamid Sourian	Iran	55 kg / 59 kg	2005	2014	6	–	–	6
3	Rıza Kayaalp	Turkey	120 kg / 130 kg	2009	2023	5	3	2	10
4	Mijaín López	Cuba	120 kg / 130 kg	2005	2015	5	3	–	8
5	Gogi Koguashvili	Russia	90 kg / 97 kg	1993	1999	5	–	1	6
6	Nikolay Balboshin	Soviet Union	100 kg	1973	1979	5	–	–	5
	Viktor Igumenov	Soviet Union	78 kg / 74 kg	1966	1971	5	–	–	5
	Valery Rezantsev	Soviet Union	90 kg	1970	1975	5	–	–	5
	Aleksandar Tomov	Bulgaria	+100 kg	1971	1979	5	–	–	5

Top Women's Freestyle Wrestlers

Rank	Wrestler	Country	Weights	From	To	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Saori Yoshida	Japan	55 kg / 53 kg	2002	2015	13	–	–	13
2	Kaori Ichō	Japan	63 kg / 58 kg	2002	2015	10	–	–	10
3	Hitomi Obara (Sakamoto)	Japan	51 kg / 48 kg	2000	2011	8	–	–	8
4	Christine Nordhagen	Canada	70 kg / 68 kg / 75 kg	1993	2001	6	1	1	8
5	Yayoi Urano	Japan	75 kg / 70 kg / 65 kg	1990	1996	6	1	–	7
6	Adeline Gray	United States	67 kg / 72 kg / 75 kg / 76 kg	2011	2023	6	–	3	9
7	Kyōko Hamaguchi	Japan	75 kg / 72 kg	1997	2010	5	2	3	10
8	Zhong Xiue	China	44 kg / 47 kg / 46 kg	1991	1999	5	2	–	7
9	Shoko Yoshimura	Japan	44 kg	1987	1996	5	1	3	9
10	Liu Dongfeng	China	75 kg	1991	1997	5	–	1	6
	Stanka Zlateva	Bulgaria	72 kg	2006	2011	5	–	1	6
12	Nikola Hartmann	Austria	61 kg / 62 kg	1993	2000	5	–	–	5

More About Wrestling

• Wrestling World Cup
• U17 World Wrestling Championships
• U23 World Wrestling Championships
• World Wrestling Clubs Cup
• World Beach Wrestling Championships
• List of World Championships medalists in wrestling (freestyle)
• List of World Championships medalists in wrestling (Greco-Roman)
• List of World Championships medalists in wrestling (women)
• List of World and Olympic Champions in men's freestyle wrestling
• List of World and Olympic Champions in Greco-Roman wrestling
• List of World and Olympic Champions in women's freestyle wrestling

See also

In Spanish: Campeonato Mundial de Lucha para niños