world wrestling month, BTS, Beat the streets, May, Hamada, Maroulis

United World Wrestling Designates May as “World Wrestling Month”

Friday, April 28, 2017 - 16:01 By Tim Foley

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CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (April 28) – United World Wrestling has announced that May will be “World Wrestling Month.” The month will be highlighted by a series of tournaments, special events, and social media interactions with fans and athletes around the world.

The designation started during the 2013 Save Olympic Wrestling campaign when wrestlers, coaches and fans from around the world celebrated the sport with a number of promotional events in that May.

May is also one of the most active months of the 2017 wrestling season, featuring three of United World Wrestling's premier senior-level continental championships; the European Championships (May 2-7), the Pan-Am Championships (May 5-7) and the Asian Championships (May 10-14). The events will help give fans, athletes, coaches and national federations the opportunity to share their experiences on and off the mat.

“Wrestling fans will have a lot of opportunity this month to watch their favorite sport,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “We want them to enjoy the competitions, but also share their stories online with other fans and athletes. We want to see and hear about their life in the sport”

United World Wrestling will focus its social media campaign around two wrestling hashtags for the month of May. #WrestlingMonth is a chance for users share their wrestling photos, stories, and goals for their athletic and coaching career. #WhereITrain will be an entertaining peek inside the wrestling halls, gyms and homes where wrestlers from all levels train in the hopes of becoming a world and Olympic champions.

The month will also be an opportunity for national federations and wrestling-based non-profits to hold events. Beat the Streets-New York will be holding their annual fundraising event in Times Square featuring a dual meet between the stars of USA Wrestling and the Japanese Wrestling Federation, including a much-anticipated rematch between 2016 Olympic champion Helen MAROULIS (USA) and 2014 world champion Chiho HAMADA (JPN). 

Wrestling month will also include new media content from United World Wrestling including video interviews with wrestlers, highlight films from action around the world and short docu-follows on some of the sport’s biggest personalities.

#BeachWrestling

Youth Olympic quotas in focus as Katerini hosts U17, U20 BW Worlds

Wednesday, September 24, 2025 - 08:47 By United World Wrestling Press

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KATERINI, Greece (September 23) -- Thirty countries, close to 300 wrestlers, a global glory and a Youth Olympic dream.

Over two days this week, on September 25 and 26, the world’s best age-group beach wrestlers descend upon the scenic Katerini Beach, where the sun sets behind the imposing Mount Olympus. In this postcard-perfect surroundings, they will hope to write their scripts at the U17 and U20 World Championships.

The tournament will be live on the YouTube channel of United World Wrestling's Beach Wrestling channel.

The championships will be taken into consideration for quotas for the 2026 Youth Olympic Games qualifier, adding another layer of significance to the U17 event.

United World Wrestling has received a request for quotas from more than 100 National Olympic Committees with a total of 300 male and 269 female wrestlers. Currently, there are 48 quotas per gender. In this context, the World Championships in Katerini will add excitement to the race for the Youth Olympic Games, scheduled to be held in Dakar.

The U17 and U20 World Championships will be held across eight weight classes each in men’s and women’s categories. Last year, Ukraine and the United States reigned supreme in the men’s and women’s events, respectively, of the U17 World Championships. This year, too, they will be among the favorites to lift the team titles.

Once again, this year, Ukraine has entered a jumbo team with eight wrestlers in the U17 men’s competition. Only hosts Greece (12), Georgia (11), and Moldova (9) have a contingent bigger than theirs. On the women’s side, the USA has fielded the largest delegation among the 24 teams, with 9 wrestlers. In Beach Wrestling, a country can register a maximum of 3 athletes per weight category.

It won’t be so straightforward for both teams to retain their titles, with challengers emerging from other nations, particularly hosts Greece, who would hope to put on a good show in front of their home crowd. Romania, Moldova, Georgia and Iran will remain strong contenders despite Ukraine's legacy in the competition, especially the women's.

Earlier this month, the U15, U17 and U20 African Beach Wrestling Championships were held in Casablanca, where Algeria bagged the U17 men’s and women’s titles. The serene Ain Diab beach in the Moroccan capital hosted the age-group tournaments before the Beach Wrestling World Series, marking the first time the event was held in an African city.

Soon after the U17 and U20 Beach World Championships, the Katerini Beach will host the World Series on September 27 and 28. The penultimate stop of the event is set to be the biggest of the 2025 season so far in terms of participation. There have been a record number of entries, underlining the sport’s continued global growth.

The World Series will return to Africa in October for its final instalment of this season, when the tournament will be held in Alexandria, Egypt, on October 18 and 19.