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World Beach Wrestling Championships is the annual world championship organized byUnited World Wrestling for the sport ofbeach wrestling.[1]
The first World Championships took place in 2006, alongside the resurrected FILASambo World Championships, inAntalya, Turkey.[2] Only the Senior division was featured until 2010, and each age division has separate men and women divisions. There were initially only two weight classes for each of the gender divisions within the Senior division, lightweight and heavyweight.[3] The number of weight classes expanded beginning in 2011, with the Senior men's division featuring four weight classes (70 kg, 80 kg, 90 kg, and heavyweight) and the Senior women's division featuring three weight classes (60 kg, 70 kg, and heavyweight).
Although not officially recognized by UWW as a World Championship, many nations recognize the beach wrestling competition of the World Wrestling Games to be the World Beach Wrestling Championship in 2007 (hosted inAntalya, Turkey) and 2008 (hosted inDurrës, Albania).[4] The same recognition is generally not given to the 2009 World Wrestling Games (hosted inŠiauliai, Lithuania) as the Beach Wrestling World Championships made its officially sanctioned return. The World Wrestling Games also featured championships inGrappling and Sambo, with the three styles being collectively known as the "developing styles" at the time.
Beginning in 2019, the World Championships for the senior division will be determined via a point system during theBeach Wrestling World Series.[5] The Beach Wrestling World Series features multiple international competitions, with each event awarding 15,000CHF in prize money.[6] The World Beach Wrestling Championships will remain as a singular event to determine the World Champion in the cadet and junior age divisions.
| Year | Dates | City and host country | Competitions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seniors | Juniors | Cadets | |||
| 2006 | November 2 |  Antalya, Turkey | + | — | — |
| 2009 | July 28 |  Obzor, Bulgaria | + | — | — |
| 2010 | July 26–28 |  Budva, Montenegro | + | + | + |
| 2011 | July 16–18 |  Batumi, Georgia | + | + | + |
| 2012 | August 27 |  Baku, Azerbaijan | — | — | + |
| September 10 |  Pattaya, Thailand | + | + | — | |
| October 24 |  Budaörs, Hungary | + | — | — | |
| 2013 | May 31 |  El-Jadida, Morocco | + | — | + |
| 2014 | July 4–6 |  Katerini, Greece | + | + | + |
| 2015 | June 13–15 |  Mangalia, Romania | + | + | + |
| 2016 | June 3–5 |  Fažana, Croatia | + | + | + |
| 2017 | October 13–15 | Dalyan, Turkey | + | + | + |
| 2018 | October 6–7 | Sarigerme, Turkey | + | + | + |
| 2019 | September 7–8 | Zagreb, Croatia | + | + | + |
| 2021 | September 23–24 | Constanța, Romania | — | + | + |
| 2022 | May 28 – September 4 | 5 events | + | — | — |
| 2023 | May 7 – October 15 | 5 events | + | — | — |
| 2024 | March 2 – October 13 | 5 events | + | — | — |
| 2025 | May 12 – October 19 | 5 events | + | — | — |
| Total | — | — | 13 | 8 | 9 |
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Hakkı Ceylan (TUR) | Abdullah Aycak (TUR) |  Ray Dawney (USA) Gentian Geraj (ALB) |
| 2009 | Nikolai Stanchev (BUL) | Adem Akbulut (TUR) |  Augusto Midana (GBS) |
| 2010 | Arpad Ritter (HUN) | Celal Dal (TUR) | Adem Akbulut (TUR) |
