Idman.biz
It has been officially announced where Azerbaijani wrestlers will begin their fight for qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.
According to Idman.Biz, referring to United World Wrestling (UWW), the 2027 World Wrestling Championship will be held in Las Vegas (USA).
The tournament will take place on September 11-19 at the "Thomas&Mack Center" arena of the University of Nevada and will be the first direct qualifying stage for the 2028 Olympics.
The first Olympic licenses will be contested in Las Vegas. According to UWW rules, all medalists at the world championship, which will be held in 18 Olympic weight categories - winners, finalists and two bronze medalists - will receive quotas. Thus, for a wrestler to win a ticket to the 2028 Games at the world championship, it is enough to climb the podium. A total of 72 quotas will be distributed at this stage.
In addition, it is important that the Olympic quota is given not to the athlete individually, but to the National Olympic Committee (NOC). That is, the license won belongs to the country, and the final composition of the team to be sent to the Games is determined by the relevant national body.
One of the main innovations of the new Olympic cycle is the introduction of a separate selection system through the UWW ranking. This mechanism is specifically designed for qualification for the 2028 Games: there was no such ranking route in the selection for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Based on the results of the Olympic ranking period, among athletes who have not yet won a license, wrestlers in the top three of the UWW list in each Olympic weight category will receive quotas for their NOCs. Thus, an additional 54 permits will be distributed through the ranking.
Ranking points for Olympic selection will be calculated starting from the first Ranking Series tournament of 2027 - from February 15-21. The ranking system will include the 2027 and 2028 Ranking Series tournaments, the 2027 and 2028 continental championships, as well as the 2027 World Championship in Las Vegas. Olympic quotas based on ranking will be distributed after the end of the 2028 African Championship - after March 19, 2028.
The next direct chance for wrestlers will be the 2028 continental Olympic qualifying tournaments. At each tournament, finalists in each Olympic weight category will win licenses. The Africa-Oceania selection will be held on March 24-26, Pan America on March 31-April 2, Europe on April 7-9, and Asia on April 14-16. The last chance will be the world Olympic qualifying tournament, which will be held on May 18-21, where only the winner in each category will receive a license. The venues for these tournaments will be announced by UWW later.
Wrestling competitions at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games will be held on July 24-30.
UWW has also announced the dates of other world championships for 2027. The U17 World Championship will be held on August 2-8 in Amman (Jordan), the U20 World Championship on August 23-29 in Novi Sad (Serbia), the Veterans World Championship on October 5-10 in Poreč (Croatia), and the U23 World Championship on October 18-24 in Brasov (Romania). In addition, starting in 2028, UWW will make changes to the competition calendar: the U20 World Championship will be held before U17, and the U23 before the World Championship among adults.
