The 2026 World Wrestling Championships have ended in Astana, with Kazakhstan finishing 15th in the overall medal table with five medals — one silver and four bronze, and no gold, infohub.kz reports.
Freestyle wrestler Nurkozha Kaipanov (up to 74 kg) was Kazakhstan's only finalist at the tournament. He lost his final bout and had to settle for silver. It was the national team's only medal in freestyle wrestling.
Three bronze medals came from the Greco-Roman squad. Iskhar Kurbaev (up to 55 kg), Aidos Sultangali (up to 60 kg) and Bagdat Sabaz (up to 67 kg) reached the podium. The women's team added one more bronze through Zeinep Bayanova (up to 50 kg).
It is the first time since 2022 that Kazakhstan has finished a wrestling world championships without a gold medal. At the three previous tournaments the team won one title each time: freestyle wrestler Rizabek Aitmukhan took gold in Belgrade in 2023, Kaipanov in Tirana in 2024 and Sultangali in Zagreb in 2025.
The United States topped the overall medal table at the home 2026 World Championships with seven gold, two silver and six bronze medals. Iran finished second (6-4-5), and Russia completed the top three (4-3-7).
Wrestlers from Japan and China won three gold medals each, and Azerbaijan took two. India, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus and Bulgaria each claimed one title.