World Wrestling Championships

World Wrestling Championships
StatusActive
GenreWrestlingWorld Championship
DateSeptember to October
FrequencyAnnual
LocationVarious
Years activeUnofficially 1904–1920Officially 1921–present
Inaugurated1904 (1904)
Most recent2025 Zagreb
Previous event2024 Tirana
Next event2026 Manama
Organised byUnited World Wrestling

The World Wrestling Championships for Greco-Roman wrestling (men, since 1904) and freestyle wrestling (men since 1951, women since 1987) are organized by United World Wrestling (UWW).[1]

Unofficial editions

Several World Greco-Roman Championships had been held prior to creation of the creation of the International Amateur Wrestling Federation in 1921, the UWW considers those competitions as unofficial.[2]

YearDatesCity and host country
190423–26 May AustriaVienna, Austria
1905 (1) 8–10 April GermanyBerlin, Germany
1905 (2) 11–13 June GermanyDuisburg, Germany
190720 May GermanyFrankfurt, Germany
19088–9 December AustriaVienna, Austria
19093 October AustriaVienna, Austria
1910 (1) 6 June GermanyDüsseldorf, Germany
1910 (2) 9 October AustriaVienna, Austria
1911 (1) 25–28 March FinlandHelsinki, Finland
1911 (2) 29–30 April GermanyStuttgart, Germany
1911 (3) 13–14 May GermanyBerlin, Germany
1911 (4) 24–27 June GermanyDresden, Germany
1911 (5) 29 June – 2 July AustriaVienna, Austria
191327–28 July GermanyBreslau, Germany
19204–8 September AustriaVienna, Austria

Editions

Men's freestyle

YearDatesCity and host countryTeam champion
195126–29 April FinlandHelsinki, Finland Turkey
195422–25 May JapanTokyo, Japan  Turkey
19571–2 June TurkeyIstanbul, Turkey Turkey
19591–5 October IranTehran, Iran Soviet Union
19612–4 June JapanYokohama, Japan Iran
196221–23 June United StatesToledo, United States Soviet Union
196331 May – 2 June BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Soviet Union
19651–3 June United KingdomManchester, United Kingdom Iran
196616–18 June United StatesToledo, United States Turkey
196712–14 November IndiaNew Delhi, India Soviet Union
19698–10 March ArgentinaMar del Plata, Argentina Soviet Union
19709–11 July CanadaEdmonton, Canada Soviet Union
197127–30 August BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Soviet Union
19736–9 September IranTehran, Iran Soviet Union
197429 August – 1 September TurkeyIstanbul, Turkey Soviet Union
197515–18 September Soviet UnionMinsk, Soviet Union Soviet Union
197721–23 October SwitzerlandLausanne, Switzerland Soviet Union
197824–27 August MexicoMexico City, Mexico Soviet Union
197925–28 August United StatesSan Diego, United States Soviet Union
198111–14 September Socialist Federal Republic of YugoslaviaSkopje, Yugoslavia Soviet Union
198211–14 August CanadaEdmonton, Canada Soviet Union
198326–29 September Soviet UnionKyiv, Soviet Union Soviet Union
198510–13 October HungaryBudapest, Hungary Soviet Union
198619–22 October HungaryBudapest, Hungary Soviet Union
198726–29 August FranceClermont-Ferrand, France Soviet Union
198931 August – 3 September SwitzerlandMartigny, Switzerland Soviet Union
19906–9 September JapanTokyo, Japan  Soviet Union
19913–6 October BulgariaVarna, Bulgaria Soviet Union
199325–28 August CanadaToronto, Canada United States
199425–28 August TurkeyIstanbul, Turkey Turkey
199510–13 August United StatesAtlanta, United States  United States
199728–31 August RussiaKrasnoyarsk, Russia Russia
19988–11 September IranTehran, Iran Iran
19997–10 October TurkeyAnkara, Turkey Russia
200122–25 November BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Russia
20025–7 September IranTehran, Iran Iran
200312–14 September United StatesNew York City, United States Georgia

Men's Greco-Roman

YearDatesCity and host countryTeam champion
19215–8 November FinlandHelsinki, Finlandnot awarded
19228–11 March SwedenStockholm, Swedennot awarded
195020–23 March SwedenStockholm, Sweden Sweden
195317–19 April ItalyNaples, Italy Soviet Union
195521–25 April West GermanyKarlsruhe, West Germany Soviet Union
195821–24 July HungaryBudapest, Hungary Soviet Union
19615–7 June JapanYokohama, Japan Soviet Union
196225–27 June United StatesToledo, United States Soviet Union
19631–3 July SwedenHelsingborg, Sweden Soviet Union
19656–8 June FinlandTampere, Finland Soviet Union
196620–22 June United StatesToledo, United States Soviet Union
19671–3 September RomaniaBucharest, Romania Soviet Union
19693–5 March ArgentinaMar del Plata, Argentina Soviet Union
19704–6 July CanadaEdmonton, Canada Soviet Union
19712–5 September BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Bulgaria
197311–14 September IranTehran, Iran Soviet Union
197410–13 October PolandKatowice, Poland Soviet Union
197511–14 September Soviet UnionMinsk, Soviet Union Soviet Union
197714–17 October SwedenGothenburg, Sweden Soviet Union
197820–23 August MexicoMexico City, Mexico Soviet Union
197921–24 August United StatesSan Diego, United States Soviet Union
198128–30 August NorwayOslo, Norway Soviet Union
19829–12 September PolandKatowice, Poland Soviet Union
198322–25 September Soviet UnionKyiv, Soviet Union Soviet Union
19858–11 August NorwayKolbotn, Norway Soviet Union
198623–26 October HungaryBudapest, Hungary Soviet Union
198719–22 August FranceClermont-Ferrand, France Soviet Union
198924–27 August SwitzerlandMartigny, Switzerland Soviet Union
199019–21 November ItalyRome, Italy Soviet Union
199127–30 September BulgariaVarna, Bulgaria Soviet Union
199316–19 September SwedenStockholm, Sweden Russia
19948–11 September FinlandTampere, Finland Russia
199512–15 October Czech RepublicPrague, Czech Republic Russia
199710–13 September PolandWrocław, Poland Russia
199827–30 August SwedenGävle, Sweden Russia
199923–26 September GreecePiraeus, Greece Russia
20016–9 December GreecePatras, Greece Cuba
200220–22 September RussiaMoscow, Russia Russia
20032–5 October FranceCréteil, France Georgia

Women's freestyle

YearDatesCity and host countryTeam champion
198724–25 October NorwayLørenskog, Norway Norway
198924–25 August SwitzerlandMartigny, Switzerland Japan
199029 June – 1 July SwedenLuleå, Sweden Japan
199124–25 August JapanTokyo, Japan  Japan
19924–5 September FranceVilleurbanne, France Japan
19937–8 August NorwayStavern, Norway Japan
19946–7 August BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Japan
19959–10 September RussiaMoscow, Russia Russia
199629–31 August BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Japan
199710–12 July FranceClermont-Ferrand, France Japan
19988–10 October PolandPoznań, Poland Russia
199910–12 September SwedenBoden, Sweden United States
20001–3 September BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria Japan
200122–25 November BulgariaSofia, Bulgaria China
20022–3 November GreeceChalcis, Greece Japan
200312–14 September United StatesNew York City, United States Japan

Combined

YearDatesCity and host countryTeam champion
Men's freestyleMen's Greco-RomanWomen's freestyle
200526 September – 2 October HungaryBudapest, Hungary Russia Hungary Japan
200625 September – 1 October ChinaGuangzhou, China Russia Turkey Japan
200717–23 September AzerbaijanBaku, Azerbaijan Russia United States Japan
200811–13 October JapanTokyo, Japan not heldnot held Japan
200921–27 September DenmarkHerning, Denmark Russia Turkey Azerbaijan
20106–12 September RussiaMoscow, Russia Russia Russia Japan
201112–18 September TurkeyIstanbul, Turkey Russia Russia Japan
201227–29 September CanadaStrathcona County, Canadanot heldnot held China
201316–22 September HungaryBudapest, Hungary Iran Russia Japan
20148–14 September UzbekistanTashkent, Uzbekistan Russia Iran Japan
20157–15 September United StatesLas Vegas, United States Iran[a] Azerbaijan[a] Japan
201610–11 December HungaryBudapest, Hungarynot awardednot awardednot awarded
201721–26 August FranceParis, France United States Russia Japan
201820–28 October HungaryBudapest, Hungary Russia Russia Japan
201914–22 September KazakhstanNur-Sultan, Kazakhstan Russia Russia Japan
20212–10 October NorwayOslo, NorwayRWF[b]RWF[b] Japan
202210–18 September SerbiaBelgrade, Serbia United States Turkey Japan
202316–24 September SerbiaBelgrade, Serbia United States Azerbaijan Japan
202428–31 October AlbaniaTirana, Albania Georgia Azerbaijan Japan
202513–21 September CroatiaZagreb, Croatia Iran Iran Japan
20265–13 September BahrainManama, Bahrain

All-time medal table

Updated after the 2025 World Wrestling Championships.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Soviet Union2539369415
2 Japan1467891315
3 Russia1106794271
4 United States90106117313
5 Iran777185233
6 Bulgaria6396103262
7 Turkey606486210
8 Hungary325353138
9 Cuba322850110
10 Sweden293648113
11 China29234395
12 France27242576
13 Azerbaijan233743103
14 Ukraine202261103
15 Georgia18224585
16 Finland17232161
17 Poland15384093
18 Romania15333987
19 Armenia15102651
20 South Korea14242563
21 Canada14183365
22 North Korea1371232
23 Norway12172958
24 Germany12163563
25 West Germany9131941
26 Serbia911222
27 East Germany8232354
28 Kazakhstan8213766
29 Kyrgyzstan871631
30 Mongolia7294783
31 Uzbekistan7122544
32 Belarus6172750
33 Yugoslavia5191741
34 Austria5139
35 Moldova48618
36Russian Wrestling Federation[b]45918
37 Italy381223
38 Czechoslovakia361120
39 Venezuela34512
40 Egypt33612
Individual Neutral Athletes[c]33612
41 Greece231217
42 Estonia23510
43 India151824
44 Chinese Taipei15612
United World Wrestling[d]14914
45 Israel1146
46 Bahrain1135
47 Albania1124
48 Ecuador1113
49 Belgium1012
50 Denmark07714
51 Slovakia04610
52 Czech Republic0257
53 Puerto Rico0213
54 Nigeria0156
55 Lithuania0145
56 Croatia0134
 Latvia0134
58 Netherlands0123
59 Lebanon0112
 North Macedonia0112
 Tajikistan0112
62 Brazil0101
 Tunisia0101
 Turkmenistan0101
65 Spain0033
 Switzerland0033
67 Colombia0022
 Pakistan0022
69 Argentina0011
 Chile0011
 Great Britain0011
 San Marino0011
 Syria0011
Totals (73 entries)1,2431,2361,6694,148
  • Names in italic are national entities that no longer exist.

Team titles

CountryFSGRFWTotal
 Soviet Union2226048
 Russia1213227
 Japan002828
 Iran7209
 Turkey5308
 United States5117
 Azerbaijan0314
 Georgia2103
 China0022
Russian Wrestling Federation[b]1102
 Bulgaria0101
 Cuba0101
 Hungary0101
 Sweden0101
 Norway0011

Multiple gold medalists

The tables shows those who have won at least 5 gold medals at the World Championships. Boldface denotes active wrestlers and highest medal count among all wrestlers (including these who not included in these tables) per type.

Men's freestyle

Rank Wrestler Country Weights From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Valentin Yordanov Bulgaria52 kg1983199572110
2Aleksandr Medved Soviet Union+87 kg / 97 kg / +97 kg / +100 kg196119717119
3Sergei Beloglazov Soviet Union57 kg / 62 kg19791987617
Arsen Fadzaev Soviet Union68 kg / 74 kg19831991617
Abdulrashid Sadulaev RussiaRussian Wrestling FederationIndividual Neutral Athletes86 kg / 97 kg / 92 kg20142024617
6Jordan Burroughs United States74 kg / 79 kg20112022639
7Buvaisar Saitiev Russia74 kg / 76 kg1995200566
8Makharbek Khadartsev Soviet Union Russia90 kg198619955218
9Khadzhimurat Gatsalov Russia96 kg / 120 kg / 125 kg200520145117
10Ali Aliev Soviet Union52 kg / 57 kg19591967516
11Leri Khabelov Soviet Union Russia100 kg / 130 kg19851995516
12Abdollah Movahed Iran70 kg / 68 kg1965197055

Men's Greco-Roman

Rank Wrestler Country Weights From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Aleksandr Karelin Soviet Union Russia130 kg1989199999
2Hamid Sourian Iran55 kg / 59 kg2005201466
3Rıza Kayaalp Turkey120 kg / 130 kg2009202353210
4Mijaín López Cuba120 kg / 130 kg20052015538
5Gogi Koguashvili Russia90 kg / 97 kg19931999516
6Nikolay Balboshin Soviet Union100 kg1973197955
Viktor Igumenov Soviet Union78 kg / 74 kg1966197155
Valery Rezantsev Soviet Union90 kg1970197555
Aleksandar Tomov Bulgaria+100 kg1971197955

Women's freestyle

Rank Wrestler Country Weights From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Saori Yoshida Japan55 kg / 53 kg200220151313
2Kaori Ichō Japan63 kg / 58 kg200220151010
3Hitomi Obara (Sakamoto) Japan51 kg / 48 kg2000201188
4Christine Nordhagen Canada70 kg / 68 kg / 75 kg199320016118
5Yayoi Urano Japan75 kg / 70 kg / 65 kg19901996617
6Adeline Gray United States67 kg / 72 kg / 75 kg / 76 kg20112023639
7Kyōko Hamaguchi Japan75 kg / 72 kg1997201052310
8Zhong Xiue China44 kg / 47 kg / 46 kg19911999527
9Shoko Yoshimura Japan44 kg198719965139
10Liu Dongfeng China75 kg19911997516
Stanka Zlateva Bulgaria72 kg20062011516
12Nikola Hartmann Austria61 kg / 62 kg1993200055

See also

Notes

  1. ^ abRussia originally won both men's Greco-Roman and men's freestyle team titles in 2015 but eventually lost them ten years later after a couple of doping disqualifications.[3]
  2. ^ abcdAt the 2021 World Championships, in accordance with a ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), wrestlers from Russia were not permitted to use the Russian name, flag, or anthem. They instead participated under the name and the modified flag of the Russian Wrestling Federation (RWF).
  3. ^At the 2023 and 2024 World Wrestling Championships, in accordance with sanctions imposed following by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, wrestlers from Russia and Belarus were not permitted to use the name, flag, or anthem of Russia or Belarus. They instead participated as "Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)", their medals were not included in the official medal table.
  4. ^Wrestlers from India at the 2023 World Championships and Belarus and Russia at the 2025 World Championships were not permitted to use the name, flag, or anthem of their countries. They instead participated under the name and the flag of the United World Wrestling (UWW), their medals were not included in the official medal table.

References

  1. ^"Sushil's Moscow gold and a Budapest triple: India at Wrestling Worlds". ESPN. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  2. ^"75 Years FILA"(PDF). FILA. p. 56. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  3. ^"Results Book"(PDF). United World Wrestling. p. 14 and 86. Retrieved 22 September 2025.