Just like we did for the U17 World Championships, we can look at the list of registered wrestlers for the 2023 U20 World Championships in Amman, Jordan and tell you which countries are sending the most competitors. We've got maps and everything!
Olympic wrestling is a truly global sport, as this historical analysis from 2018 shows, as does this breakdown of the hometowns of Rio Olympic medalists.
The age-level tournaments are further evidence of the world's oldest and greatest's sport's universal appeal. While the total number of entries for the U20 World Championships is lower than at Senior Worlds due to budget constraints, the 2023 edition of the twenty-and-under championships is truly a global extravaganza.
Below we will break down how many participants registered for each country and then list those that registered at least five in each division. But first, the total number of registered wrestlers in all three styles.
Total Participants Map
Wrestling is flourishing in the northern hemisphere, as Europe, Asia, and North America are all mostly covered with federations sending at least ten competitors out of a total of 30 possible entries.
Please note that the national federations of Russia and Belarus are still banned. However, wrestlers from those countries were able to enter as neutral athletes. Wrestlers from both countries compete under the AIN country code but we did our best to distinguish who was from where originally so as to offer more complete information in this exercise.
Total Participants By Country
- United States: 30
- Ukraine: 30
- Turkey: 30
- Kazakhstan: 30
- Japan: 30
- India: 30
- Russia: 29
- Belarus: 28
- Poland: 25
- Kyrgyzstan: 24
- Azerbaijan: 22
- Iran: 20
- Georgia: 20
- Hungary: 20
- Armenia: 19
- Uzbekistan: 19
- Moldova: 19
- China: 18
- Germany: 18
- Egypt: 16
- Bulgaria: 14
- Romania: 12
- Canada: 10
Men's Freestyle Participants Map
It's good to see Ukraine back in the mix after missing U17 Worlds at the end of last month. The usual suspects, including team title contenders USA and Iran, are sending a full 10. Russia is only sending 9 but that could be a miscounting error on our part.
Nice to see Germany and Poland both nearly sending a full contingent. Turkmenistan sending half a full team was unexpected at an age-level tournament, as that country does not have a lot in the way of disposal income or wrestling history.
Men's Freestyle Participants By Country
- United States: 10
- Ukraine: 10
- Turkey: 10
- Kazakhstan: 10
- Japan: 10
- India: 10
- Belarus: 10
- Azerbaijan: 10
- Iran: 10
- Georgia: 10
- Russia: 9
- Poland: 9
- Armenia: 9
- Kyrgyzstan: 8
- Moldova: 8
- Germany: 8
- China: 6
- Bulgaria: 6
- Hungary: 5
- Uzbekistan: 5
- Turkmenistan: 5
Women's Freestyle Participants Map
Dominant power Japan is sending a full ten, no surprise to see that in the women's freestyle entries. Poland stepping up with nine entries is a positive development, while Egypt flexing some muscle in this style with five entries is also appreciated. Would like to see more than six from China, who has traditionally had impressive results at the senior level in women's wrestling. The same goes for our Pan-Am compatriots Canada.
Women's Freestyle Participants By Country
- United States: 10
- Ukraine: 10
- Turkey: 10
- Kazakhstan: 10
- Japan: 10
- India: 10
- Belarus: 10
- Russia: 10
- Poland: 9
- Kyrgyzstan: 7
- Germany: 7
- China: 6
- Hungary: 6
- Canada: 6
- Moldova: 5
- Uzbekistan: 5
- Egypt: 5
- Serbia: 5
Greco-Roman Participants Map
It's difficult to find the number of total wrestlers in other countries (on the other hand, we know that around 230,000 boys and 31,000 girls wrestle in high school in America), however, it is true that the total number of countries that send wrestlers to international Greco-Roman competitions is higher than the number of countries that compete in other styles, as evidenced by this map.
Greco-Roman Participants By Country
- United States: 10
- Ukraine: 10
- Turkey: 10
- Kazakhstan: 10
- Japan: 10
- India: 10
- Russia: 10
- Iran: 10
- Georgia: 10
- Armenia: 10
- Kyrgyzstan: 9
- Hungary: 9
- Uzbekistan: 9
- Azerbaijan: 9
- Belarus: 8
- Poland: 7
- Egypt: 7
- China: 6
- Moldova: 6
- Bulgaria: 6
- Estonia: 6
- Croatia: 5
Wrestling starts at 3:00 AM ET for the next six days and then we'll wrap up the event with a 9:00 AM ET start on Sunday, August 20 (full schedule here). Take a week off of work and stay up all night to watch, it'll be fun!
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