Beach wrestling

UWW Launches Beach Wrestling World Series; Will Award Prize Money

By Tim Foley

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY (February 26) – United World Wrestling, the international federation for the sport of wrestling, has confirmed plans for an ambitious worldwide tour of Beach Wrestling, the organization’s fastest growing new discipline.

The 2019 Beach Wresting World Series will launch in late March and include four stops around the globe. In addition to sun-drenched beaches and high-flying competition, the series will feature equally attractive cash prizes totaling 15,000 CHF per event.



Each weight category will be awarded a total of 1750 CHF; 1000 CHF for gold, 500 CHF for silver, and 250 CHF for bronze. To incentivize crowd-pleasing techniques, fans in attendance will also be asked to vote on the “Big Move from the Beach,” – an award that comes with an additional 1000 CHF for the winner.

“Beach wrestling appeals to fans and wrestlers of all ages,” said United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic. “Our young wrestlers and older lions can compete together on the beach and showcase our sport in a new and exciting way. The World Series events will have a fun atmosphere with music, food, and high energy competition.”

The Beach Wrestling World Series kicks off in the historic town of Chaves, Portugal on March 29-30 before quickly moving to Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, May 11-12. Wrestlers at the first two Beach Wrestling World Series event will also earn points to qualify for the 1st ANOC World Beach Games, scheduled to take place this October in San Diego.

The third stop of the world series will head to Odessa on August 9-10, before wrapping up at the Beach Wrestling World Series Final in Zagreb, September 6-9.

The Beach Wrestling World Series will follow a pool format with each wrestler competing against every wrestler in the pool to determine who will compete for the gold and bronze.

Weight classes for the Beach Wrestling World Series are below. National federations are reminded that they are limited to three entries per weight category.

Women:          50kg | 60kg | 70kg | +70kg

Men:               70kg | 80kg | 90kg | +90kg


To read up on the full regulations for the Beach Wrestling World Series, visit:

www.unitedworldwrestling.org/governance/regulations-beach-wrestling

Uniform Guidelines

Follow our new Instagram account at www.instagram.com/uwwbeachwrestling and on Twitter @uwwbeach.

Akgul elected President of Turkish Wrestling Federation

By Eric Olanowski

ANKARA, Turkiye (December 18) --- Taha AKGUL (TUR) today was elected the President of the Turkish Wrestling Federation at the 6th Regular and Financial General Assembly of the Turkish Wrestling Federation held at the Anadolu Hotels Esenboğa Thermal in Ankara.

Akgul retired from his wrestling career four short months ago at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after successfully winning his third Olympic medal. The 34-year-old native of Sivas, Turkiye, won Olympic gold in Rio 2016 and then back-to-back bronze medals at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics. Akgul is also a three-time world gold medalist and 11-time European champion.

"I am very happy to have been elected president by the representatives. Together, with my team, I will do my best for the sport of wrestling with passion and hard work,” Akgul stated to United World Wrestling shortly after the elections.

According to the Turkish Wrestling Federation’s Instagram page, Akgul received 189 out of 288 votes. Former three-time world champion Celcuk CEBI (TUR) received 92 of the remaining 99 votes, while the remaining seven were nullified.

“The full members of the new board of directors of the federation under the presidency of Akgul are as follows: Mesut Ozarslan, Abdullah Şanli, Arslan Narin, Murat Şahin, Huseyin Kaya, Şems Sezal, İsmail Yagbat, İhsan Gurol Guey, İbrahim Demirturkoğgu and Ahmet Yildirim,” stated the TWF.

For more information regarding Akgul's election and other news from Turkiye, see the Turkish Wrestling Federation's Instagram page.