WomenLeadSports

Women Lead Sports Master Program Graduates 40

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (January 24) -- Last week, Women Lead Sports Master Program celebrated the graduation of the new generation of women leaders within the wrestling world.

World-renowned expert Gabriela Mueller spearheaded the course with over 40 participants -- 95% women – from all five continents.

The objectives of the Women Lead Sports Master Program were to empower participants to shape the future of wrestling as a global sport, increase a diverse talent pool in leadership within UWW at all levels, and to learn effective leadership strategies, techniques, and applicable tactics that work today.

“Despite the challenges related to COVID, we managed to organize another successful virtual leadership programme to advance the gender equality topic in our sport. As part of the strategic plan 2022-2026, we hope to see more women and men of the future generations in leadership positions,” said Deqa Niamkey, UWW’s Development Director.

Participants learned valuable communication tactics that’ll assist them in negotiations and persuasions through the course’s interactive breakout sessions and discussions. They also learned how to build their personal power and influence and how to use them when persuading voters and key decision-makers.

“United World Wrestling and Deqa Niamkey, with her Leadership, once again models what leaders do: empower new leaders who empower more leaders.” She continued, saying, “to the team, to every participant who is now proudly displayed as a graduate of the program and amplifying their impact under," said the award-winning trainer and coach, Mueller.

Women Lead Sports Master Program Topics:
- Personal Power and Influence
- Stakeholder management and use of skills navigating politics
- Self-awareness of personal leadership style, areas of development and strengths
- Communication and Persuasion skills
- Negotiation skills
- Networking, sponsoring, mentoring, and lobbying skills
- Self-confidence, courage and assertiveness
- Sport Electoral year and best practices
- Leading in male-dominated environments with success and authenticity.

Women Lead Sports Master Program Graduates: https://www.womenleadsports.com/sports/wrestling-freestyle?fbclid=IwAR3p2Q5KsmYVwA54ILYv5F8Mb-ww7hnBahua72Nf7KZOCCWubaF_oE6BaGg

#UnitedWorldWrestling

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.

The U20 World Championships is headed to Manama, Bahrain and will be held from August 17 to 23. The capital has hosted the U20 Asian Championships in 2022.

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.