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One of the oldest sports on the World University Championship programme, Wrestling debuted in 1968 in Turkey and also has been an optional sport a few times at the Summer Universiade. It's a popular sport in FISU, being organized on several continents. In 2022 Wrestling was part of the FISU University World Cup Combat Sports in Samsun (TUR). Combat Sports (with Wrestling as a discipline) now return to a FISU World University Championship format.

EVENTS World University Championship

All Events Wrestling

2018
Goiânia (BRA)
4-9 Sep 2018
2016
Corum (TUR)
25-30 Oct 2016
2014
Pecs (HUN)
7-12 Jul 2014
2013
Kazan (RUS)
6-17 Jul 2013
2005
Izmir (TUR)
11-22 Aug 2005

Wrestling

FISU Technical Committee Chairs

Ibrahim CICIOGLU (TUR)

Noravard ARUSTAMYAN (RUS)

International Federation

United World Wrestling

FISU Regulations

You can download the latest version here.

The History of Wrestling in FISU


Today, there are many discussions concerning appropriate sports programmes for major events. There are sports that are automatically included into the programme for one simple reason: they have been practised for centuries. Wrestling is one of those. Like Athletics, Wrestling dates back to Greek and Roman antiquity and things haven't evolved according to materials or fashion. There is one rule engraved on a stone: "Take your opponent down and glue him to the mat".

 

Although this noble discipline was included in the programme of the Bucharest (ROM) Universiade in 1981, it has not been part of the World University Championship programme since the 1968 edition in Istanbul (TUR). This shows its considerable drop in popularity owing to the massive arrival of so-called "fun" sports. The current return to more traditional values is giving Wrestling a new lease of life. It was Iran which put the sport back in the limelight and included it into the FISU agenda by organising the second Wrestling WUC in Teheran in 1996. It was a magnificent success with 171 wrestlers from 18 countries, among whom were such great champions as Serguey Liehtrvan and Alexander Zanko from Belarus. In 1998 Turkey organised the third edition, echoing the first one that it had organised 30 years earlier in 1968. Obviously, the sport was definitely back, because many member associations had expressed a lively interest in hosting a Wrestling championship. In the year 2000, the championship was held in Japan and that was a great delight for all university wrestlers. Women participated for the first time in the World University Wrestling Championship in Edmonton in 2002.

 

At the Summer Universiade 2005 in Izmir, Turkey, the Wrestling competition for both men and women took place. It was a great success with the participation of 40 countries and more than 340 wrestlers. With an increasing number of participants, Wrestling became one of the FISU star championships. In 2010, 273 wrestlers from 32 countries took part in the championship, showing a worldwide interest in the discipline.

Statistics WUC Wrestling

Edition

Year

Country

City

N° of Coutnries

M

W

Athletes

Officials

Total

 1

 1968

 TUR

 Istanbul

 7

31

 0

 31

 18

 49

 2

 1996

 IRI

 Teheran

 18

171

 0

 171

 43

 214

 3

 1998

 TUR

 Ankara

 16

 142

 0

 142

 49

 191

 4

 2000

 JPN

 Tokyo

 23

 156

 0

 156

 61

 217

 5

 2002

 CAN

 Edmonton

 27

 124

 42

 166

 74

 240

 6

 2004

 POL

 Lodz

 26

 165

 48

 213

 78

 291

 7

 2006

 MGL

 Ulaanbaatar

 30

 175

 55

 230

 106

 336

 8

 2008

 GRE

 Thessaloniki

 27

 161

 67

 228

 82

 310

 9

 2010

 ITA

 Torino

 32

 201

 72

 273

 112

 385

 10

 2012

 FIN

 Kuortane

 24

 177

 67

 244

 95

 339

 11

 2014

 HUN

 Pecs

 27

 182

 66

 248

 73

 321

 12

 2016

 TUR

Corum

 24

157 50 207 69 276

 13

 2018

 BRA

 Goiânia

 12

101

34

135

30

165

 

Statistics Wrestling as an optional sport at the Summer Universiade

Edition

Year

Country

City

N° of Coutnries

M

W

Athletes

Officials

Total

 7 1973 USR Moscow            
 9 1977  BUL Sofia            
 11 1981 ROU Bucharest            
 23 2005 TUR Izmir            
 27 2013 RUS Kazan