Anti-Doping

IOC Determines Taymazov Fails London Re-Test

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (July 26) – The IOC Disciplinary Commission (DC) rendered its decision against Artur TAYMAZOV (UZB) who failed a reanalysis of his anti-doping test at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Taymazov tested positive for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (oral turinabol).

The Uzbek wrestler had earned a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at 120kg and his removal will re-shuffle the order of medalists at the 2012 London Games. Komeil GHASEMI (IRI) will become the new gold medalist, Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS) remains silver, and Tervel DLAGNEV (USA) will be the newest bronze medalist.

Gold: Komeil GHASEMI (IRI)
Silver: Bilyal MAKHOV (RUS)
Bronze: Tervel DLAGNEV (USA)
Bronze: Daulet SHABANBAY (KAZ)

Taymazov may opt to appeal the IOC DC decision before CAS within 21 days. United World Wrestling will then determine the sanctions faced by the athlete.

#wrestlemanama

World C'ships 2026 to be held in October; U20 Worlds in Bratislava

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (December 8) -- United World Wrestling has officially confirmed the host city for the 2026 U20 World Championships and finalized the competition dates for the 2026 Senior World Championships.

In addition, the host for 2026 Asian Championships has also been shifted from Amman, Jordan to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Bratislava, Slovakia, has been selected to host the 2026 U20 World Championships. Bratislava had successfully hosted the 2025 European Championships in April with sellout stadium. The U20 World Championships in 2026 are scheduled to take place from August 17 to 23 and a similar crowd is expected for the competition.

UWW also confirmed the competition window for the 2026 Senior World Championships to be hosted in Manama, Bahrain, which was announced as hosts during a ceremony held in Zagreb in September.

The World Championships are set to run from October 24 to November 1, providing nine days of action featuring the world’s top wrestlers.

No Arab country has ever hosted a World Championships but Bahrain will etch its name in history with the 2026 edition.

"Bahrain has a superstar in wrestling," UWW President Nenad LALOVIC had said. "They probably want to use this opportunity to promote the sport through this superstar [Akhmed] TAZHUDINOV (BRN). But he's not the only one.

"They also want to develop the local Bahrain born athletes to compete because they have the role model of the top achievement in wrestling. This is something that we considered and that is why we made this decision."

The Asian Championships, originally scheduled in Amman will now be hosted by Bishkek from April 6 to 12.

The 2026 U15 & U20 Asian Championships have been moved from Bangkok to Pattaya.

The U17, U20 and senior African Championships will be held in Alexandria, Egypt from April 28 to May 3. In addition, the dates for the 2026 Pan-American Championships were also modified. The competition will now be held from May 7 to 10 in Coralville, Iowa, United States.

For the full 2026 calendar, visit uww.org/events.