2023 World Wrestling Championships

The 2023 World Wrestling Championships was held from 16 to 24 September 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia. Wrestlers get a chance to win 90 quotas for the 2024 Summer Olympics from the Belgrade Worlds. Any nation that participated in the 2023 continental championships was eligible to participate in the World Championships.

Participating nations

940 competitors from 88 nations and 2 other teams participated.

Individual Neutral Athletes
United World Wrestling
As a result of sanctions imposed following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, wrestlers from Russia and Belarus were not permitted to use the name, flag, or anthem of Russia or Belarus. They instead participated as Individual Neutral Athletes according to an IOC decision implemented by the UWW. No flags at all were used for these delegations, not even the UWW flag. The UWW does not include the medals won by these wrestlers in the official medal table, their results were not counted in the team rankings.
As a result of sanctions by the UWW imposed on the Wrestling Federation of India for not conducting its elections on time, wrestlers from India were not permitted to use the name, flag, or anthem of India. They instead participated under the name and the flag of the United World Wrestling (UWW). Beside that two refugee wrestlers also participated under the UWW name.

Controversies

United World Wrestling authorized some Russian wrestlers to participate in the World Championships though they had participated in the pro-war rally and expressed their support for the Russo-Ukrainian war. The athletes in question included Abdulrashid Sadulaev, Zaurbek Sidakov, and Zaur Uguev. This decision contradicted the IOC's recommendations. UWW explained its decision to clear them for the World Championships by stating that their participation in certain events was not of their own will and their support for the war and the policy of their government could not be certainly concluded. In general, Individual Neutral Athletes won 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals: athletes from Russia won 2 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals while athletes from Belarus – 1 silver medal.