#UWWLIVE

UWW LIVE: Almat Kebispayev (KAZ), Four-Time World Medalist

By United World Wrestling Press

Almat KEBISPAYEV (KAZ) has won four world medals in Greco-Roman wrestling since 2010. Last year, Kebispayev claimed a bronze medal at 61kg in his home country of Kazakhstan at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan. Kebispayev has also won four medals at the Asian Championships, including gold medals in 2011 and 2018. He was a silver medalist at the 2018 Asian Games.

Kebispayev joined Eric Olanowski to talk about winning a world medal in his home country, joining his Kazakh teammates for their first training camp since the pandemic hit, and made the announcement that he's moving up to 67kg for a run at a third Olympic appearance.
 

#WrestleZagreb

Olympic champ Jamalov to miss 2025 World Championships

By Eric Olanowski

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (May 14) -- Paris Olympic champion Razambek JAMALOV (UZB) will miss the 2025 World Championships.

Jamalov told United World Wrestling that he will undergo knee surgery on May 19 in Moscow and will be sidelined for the rest of the 2025 season.

This is the second surgery for Jamalov in last eight months, and 10th of his career, as he also had a shoulder surgery shortly after his win in Paris in August 2024.

"This will be my fifth surgery on my knee," Jamalov told UWW. "I've also had three surgeries on both shoulders, one on my neck, and one for tonsils.

"This is very difficult news because I was hoping to be ready for the 2025 World Championships. It's an old injury that I suffered before the Ranking Series tournament in Hungary [last year]. It's a complete tear of the cruciate ligament."

Despite the physical and mental toll of ten surgeries, the 26-year-old is gearing up for the wrestling season in 2026.

"Even after 10 surgeries, I want to keep wrestling," he said. "I'm aiming to be back in action at the beginning of 2026. Without wrestling, life feels boring to me. Of course, there are doubts sometimes, but I try to work hard and keep believing."