Development

Hungary Announces Significant New Investment, Expansion of Wrestling Opportunities

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (October 1) -- The National Wrestling Federation of Hungary recently announced a significant financial investment in their national program aimed at increasing nationwide participation, optimizing top talent, and expanding their coaching pool.

The focus of the new initiative is the nine mat, two floor Kozma Istvan Hungarian Wrestling Academy, which will provide year-round training for wrestlers between the ages of 14-18. Selected cadet and junior wrestlers will live in a dormitory combined with the wrestling center with additional junior and U23 wrestlers visiting for national and international training camps.
 


The wrestling hall opened earlier this month, with the dormitory scheduled to open in 2022.

"This is a huge milestone. We are focused on providing a great opportunity for young wrestlers to prepare in the best conditions and continue to improve on the strong traditions and results of our nation," said UWW Bureau Member and Hungarian National Federation vice-president Peter Bacsa.

"The facility also helps us during the pandemic as we are able to train under stringent safety regulations."


The academy will also serve as an international wrestling center for Olympic Solidarity programs and regional training center aligned with the goals of United World Wrestling the International Olympic Committee.

To meet the ambitious goals of the center, the national federations has recruited three highly qualified coaches to serve. Diletta GIAMPICCOLO will serve as Hungary's first-ever full-time women's national team coach. A 2004 Olympian, Giampiccolo will oversee all age groups and work at the wrestling center. Giampiccolo is being supported by UWW and IOC Olympic Solidarity scholarship for coaches beneficiary at the WSLA programme.

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UWW finalizes 2026 World, Continental Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

ZAGREB, Croatia (September 13) -- United World Wrestling has announced the host cities for all the continental and age-group World Championships for 2026.

The three age-group World Championships will be held in three different continents in 2026. Baku, Azerbaijan will kick off the World Championships season next year with the U17 World Championships from July 27 to August 2.

Baku hosted the Greco-Roman World Cup in 2022 and the European Olympic Games Qualifiers in 2024.

Las Vegas, United States will be hosting the U23 World Championships from October 12 to 18, the first time the country will host a World Championships since 2015.

Tirana gets Euros

The UWW Bureau held a meeting on Friday, a day prior to the World Championships, which begins Saturday in Zagreb. It allocated all the tournaments for 2026, barring the 2026 World Championships, to be announced on September 16, Wednesday.

The European Championships will be headed to Tirana, Albania and will be held from April 20 to 26. Tirana will also host the second stop for Ranking Series from February 25 to March 1.

For a second year in a row, Amman, Jordan will host the Asian Championships from April 7 to 12.

Iowa, United States managed to claim the Pan-American Championships for 2026. It will host the senior event in Iowa from May 6 to 9 after getting the rights over Lima, Peru. 

The U17, U20 and Senior Oceania Championships foe 2026 were awarded to Apia, Samoa.

Age-group continentals

Zrenjanin, Serbia will play host to the 2026 U23 European Championships from March 9 to 15. The U20 European Championships will be in Skopje, North Macedonia from July 6 to 12 while the U15 & U17 European Championships were awarded to Samokov, Bulgaria. The U17 event and will be held from May 11 to 17 and the U15 event from May 20 to 24.

For Asia, the 2026 U17 & U23 Asian Championships will once again travel to Da Nang, Vietnam from May 23 to 31. The country hosted the same tournament in 2025 as well. The U15 & U20 Asian Championships will be hosted by Bangkok, Thailand from June 27 to July 5.

The U23 Pan-American Championships will be moving to Miranda, Venezuela . The U20 Pan-American Championships will be held from July 9 to 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Panama City, Panama will be hosting the U17 Pan-American Championships from May 28 to 30. The U15 Pan-American Championships will be in Santiago de Chile, Chile.

As announced earlier, the Ranking Series stops are decided till 2028. For all details about events, refer to uww.org/events.

Note: An earlier version of the article read that the 2026 U20 World Championships will be held in Manama, Bahrain. That has been removed as the host is not confirmed.