#UWWLIVE

UWW LIVE: Argentina's Tokyo Olympian Agustin Destribats

By United World Wrestling Press

Agustin DESTRIBATS (ARG) earned his spot in the Tokyo Olympic Games when he won by fall over Zain RETHERFORD (USA) in the semifinals of the Pan American Games Olympic Qualifier. The 65kg freestyle wrestler finished with a silver medal and became the first male Argentinian to qualify for the Olympic Games since Paulo IBIRE qualified in 1996.

Destribats joined UWW's Eric Olanowski to talk about becoming the first Argentinian freestyle wrestler to qualify for the Olympic Games since 1996, and traveling to Dagestan, Russia, to train for the upcoming 2020 World Championships.
 

2026 World Championships

Astana Announced as Replacement Host for 2026 World Championships

By United World Wrestling Press

CORSIER-SUR-VEVEY, Switzerland (May 22) -- Astana, Kazakhstan will host the 2026 World Championships from October 24 to November 1.

United World Wrestling Bureau met on Friday and after careful consideration of the current geopolitical situation, particularly the ongoing uncertainty and impact on international travel, it decided to change the host for the 2026 World Championships.

Manama, Bahrain was scheduled to host the World Championships as it was awarded the tournament in Zagreb last year. UWW and Bahrain released a joint statement on Friday, announcing the postponement of the same.

After successful site visits and inspections, the Kazakhstan Wrestling Federation was chosen as a replacement host and Barys Arena was selected as the venue.

World Championships 2026

The announcement marks the return of the World Championships to Astana, a city which successfully hosted the 2019 World Championships. Close to 1000 wrestlers participated in 2019 edition, making it one of the most attended tournaments.

As seen in 2019, full attendance is expected at the the Barys Arena for the nine-day event.

UWW remains committed to assisting National Federations and the schedule for the 2026 World Championships in Astana will be communicated soon. For details of events, visit uww.org/events.