Tank Attack: Russia triumphantly held the Freestyle Wrestling World Cup

The 2026 European Freestyle Wrestling Championship has ended. In Albania, Russian wrestlers won six gold medals, a silver and a bronze, once again showing that they have no equal in Europe. This is a clean first place in the overall standings and another victory for the titular Abdulrashid Sadulaev. Read more about the triumph of our wrestlers at the continental championship in the Izvestia article.

The leader is in shape

On Saturday, April 25, Abdulrashid Sadulaev became the European champion for the sixth time. It was his first World Cup since 2020. In 2021, he did not participate in the championship in order to prepare for the Olympics, in 2022 and 2023, the Russians missed the European Championships, in 2024 Sadulaev had problems with a Schengen visa (the athlete was not allowed on a tourist visa), and in 2025 he was not given this visa at all. This time, the European Championship was held in Tirana, Albania, where you can enter without a Schengen visa.

Sadulaev, nicknamed the Russian Tank, competing in the category up to 97 kg, fought four fights, winning all ahead of schedule with a total score of 46:5. In the final, he was opposed by Ossetian Batyrbek Tsakulov, representing Bulgaria, the silver medalist of the 2022 World Cup. Abdulrashid confidently defeated him (14:3).

Sadulaev is one of the most decorated freestyle wrestlers of all time: in addition to six Euros (including the 2015 European Games), he won two Olympic Games and six world championships. If it weren't for the sanctions, boycotts, etc., Abdulrashid could have already reached the absolute first place in big titles. He will turn 30 in May. It's a lot for freestyle wrestling, but the Dagestani is obviously in great shape. While his main competitor, Ahmed Tazhudinov (fights under the flag of Qatar), on the contrary, began to give up: only this year he lost three fights — to Arash Yoshida, Kyle Snyder and Magomed-Tagir Khaniev.

So far, Alexander Medved and Buvaysar Saitiev are the freestyle wrestlers in gold medals (they have three such awards each), Medved and Jordanov in gold medals (seven each), and Taha Akgul in gold medals (11). So Sadulaev has a good chance to come out on top in the Olympic gold and in the gold of the World Cup.

"It is clear that the team is well prepared, and its leader in particular," Mikhail Mamiashvili, President of the Russian Wrestling Federation, said in a conversation with Izvestia. — He feels great, shows good movement. The most important thing is that there are debutants in the team, where the presence of the captain with his confident struggle is transmitted.

The leader is a huge part of the team's success, Mamiashvili added.

"I will continue to prepare for the Russian Championship,— TASS quoted Sadulaev as saying. — Thank you to everyone who was ill, who was worried, the people of Dagestan, my personal trainers, and everyone who was with me.

Free fishing: how Russian wrestlers performed at the World Cup in Zagreb

The success of Uguev and the most insulting defeat of Gadzhimagomedov

36 out of 40

Also on Saturday, in the up to 79 kg category, Dagestani Akhmed Usmanov took first place, winning in the final against Magomedhabib Kadimagomedov (4:2)— a friend of Khabib, the silver medalist of the 2021 Olympics representing Belarus. Usmanov won the European Championship for the third time in a row. Kadimagomedov became the second in the World Cup for the third time in a row.

Ossetian David Baev won the European Championship in the weight class up to 70 kg: in the final he defeated Alexander Gaidarli from Moldova, who took the youth Euro a month earlier. The score is 2:1. Now Baev is a two—time European champion.

In the category up to 65 kg, Dagestani Bashir Magomedov won gold, defeating Islam Dudaev (representing Albania) in the final — 10:0.

Musa Mehdikhanov (up to 57 kg), a student of the famous Adam Saitiev, won silver from the Russians. In the final, Mehdikhanov lost to Islam Bazarganov (6:8). Bazarganov is fighting for Azerbaijan, but he is from Dagestan.

Sunday, April 26, brought Russia two more gold medals. In the category up to 61 kg, Zaur Uguev defeated Zelimkhan Abakarov in the final (4:0), taking revenge for the defeat at the 2023 World Championships. Uguev is one of the best freestyle wrestlers in Russia of the 21st century. Olympic champion of Tokyo, three—time world champion, eight-time champion of Russia, and now a two-time European champion. After an unsuccessful 2023, Uguev proved once again that he is the best wrestler in the world in his weight class, reaching the second peak of form, which few people manage. He is now 31, but his leadership in this category is beyond doubt.

21-year-old Ibragim Kadiev, a two-time champion of Russia, won in the category up to 86 kg. This is his first serious international title. In the final, he was opposed by Arseniy Dzhioev, representing Azerbaijan. The match ended with a score of 1:1, but Kadiev had the last point, which is why he took the victory.

But the finalist of the 2025 World Cup, Amanulla Gadzhimagomedov, leaves the European Championship with a bronze medal in the category up to 92 kg.

If we take the entire CIS space, then out of 40 medals, 36 were won by those who were born in this very space, 23 of them wrestlers from the North Caucasus. Among the successes of Russians competing for other countries, it is worth highlighting the victory of Ossetian Taimuraz Salkazanov (Slovakia) in the weight class up to 74 kg — he became the European champion for the fifth time.